Voyage of Memories
by A Nobody
Summary: AFTER 5 LONG YEARS AN UPDATE! It's been 4 years since D-Reaper. Ruki's still the card champ. Ryo's been gone for a few years. People have changed for better, and for worse. What would happen if they were to meet again? And how would everyone handle it?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hey! I'm back with a new story… obviously. But anyways, I'm hopin this'll fare a bit better than TTWLG did. Please Review!!!

"quotes"

(my notes)

Disclaimer - I don't own shit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Dance,' she thought with distaste. 14 year old Ruki Makino thought this idea was crazy, who in the world would actually want to waste a good class like gym learning how to dance? In Ruki's mind 'dancing' was just another excuse for a girl to rub her ass against the sexiest guy she could find.

"Hey Ruki, what do you think of this?"

Ruki looked to her left. She was met with Takato's lips inches from her face.

"ARG! Stand down!" she whispered.

He backed up considerably before restating his question. This time she responded with a look of absolute disgust. To any person, it was obvious she detested the idea.

"Ok class, you will be getting into pairs of two-"

Ruki started looking for her usual partner, Juri.

"-these pairs will all be male-female. I took a head count and, coincidently, there are the same amount of guys as there are girls. So… buddy up!"

The only way to describe what heppened next would all be summed up in one word, chaos. Girls and guys were running everywhere trying to find a partner they liked. Unfortunately, like most high schools, there were people who were more 'important' than others (example: preps compared to geeks, cliché I know.) and many people had the intent of using this to his/her advantage.

"Hey, Takato's pretty hot." One girl said

"Duh! He plays soccer, of course he's hot!" her superficial friend said

To Takato this was just another day, he was used to the attention of being the star of the soccer team, in freshman year no less. Though it was very flattering, Takato never let any of it get to his head (In my mind Takato was the only intelligent goggle boy), besides, there was only two girls he'd ever consider dancing with.

"Hey Takato. So, you wanna be partners?" he looked up.

"Sure, Juri."

Takato was happy that Juri asked him. The only other girl he'd ever dance with was obviously Ruki, but he didn't feel the same way with her as he did with Juri. Stupid Takato. If he'd look closer he'd notice that Juri was blushing as she asked him to dance with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other side of the gym the guys were trying to dance with the most popular girl, Ruki. She didn't ask for it, it's just that popularity comes with being the Digimon Queen. To Ruki, popularity was definitely NOT a virtue.

"Get the fuck away! I don't want to dance with you!"

"Please Ruki! PLEEEEEAAAASE!" she was getting a headache.

"Didn't I tell you to fuck off?"

"Erm, yes."

Ugh! Why the hell were people so stupid? Thankfully this was the last period of the day, and the only period the digidestined all had together. Therefore, it was supposed to be sacred, not stupid.

"Mind if I cut in gentlemen?" she looked up.

Sure enough, there was Jenrya, here to save the day. But then again, looks could be deceiving.

"Hey Jenrya, PLEASE tell me you don't have a partner."

"Nope, I take it you need one?"

"Come on, think about it." She gave him a pointed look.

"I get your point."

They walked off, Jenrya slipping his arm over Ruki's shoulders on the way.

"Dude! They SOOOO have a 'thing' going on!"

Jenrya and Ruki ignored them. Some idiot started a rumor that they were more than friends and it apparantly hasn't died down yet. True, it's common for Jenrya to sling an arm over Ruki, but they both knew that it was simply platonic. They were simply best friends, and Jenrya was the sole person who knew of Ruki's regrets concerning a certain tamer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been 4 years since the tamers defeated the D-Reaper. It has been 3½ years since Ryo Akiyama disapeared. Nobody ever figured out the mystery behind it, but 3½ years ago Ryo and Cyberdramon ceased to exist, or in simpler terms, vanished. All that was left was a letter, oddly enough; it was for Ruki solely.

__

Ruki,

I don't know why, but something tells me that you'll probably be the first person to check my house. I'm sorry I couldn't stay but I just can't do it. After living in the digi-world for as many years as I have you get to considering it as home. I tried, I really did, but I can't stay. I know you'll probably want to kill me after you read this, but I know that one day you'll understand.

Here's the part that really scares me, before I leave there's something I want to tell you. Ruki… I, fuck I can't even write it down! Guess that won't be mentioned today, oh well. But anyways, you're probably going to blow this off, but don't bother looking for me in the digital world. You won't find me anywhere in it. I guess that's about it for now.

See ya around Pumpkin!

Ryo

p.s. I'll bet I'm getting tons of media coverage, much to your annoyance right?

Sure enough the tamers searched the digital world high and low, but no sign of Ryo or Cyberdramon were ever found. Even after coming out empty handed, Jenrya was the only person that Ruki ever told about the letter, he was the only person who knew that Ruki truly missed his obnoxious remarks and witty comebacks. Even if she denies it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh Ruki! Are we forgetting something?"

"How much?" he smirked.

"Oh, for a crowd about that big, the rescue is worth… $5."

She forked over the cash grumbling all the way.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Oh wow! If you're readin this, thank you thank you thank you sooooo much for stayin around for chapter 2! Eheh, anyways just read on…

"quotes"

(my notes)

Disclaimer – If I owned Digimon, this would be an episode, not a fanfiction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From his balcony Yamaki looked down at the city. This was usually where he went when he was deep in thought, and tonight was no exception. It all started this afternoon…

__

Yamaki was minding his own business; he was adding more functions to his program, Japan Online, or JOL for short. Though it had already sold over a million copies across Japan Yamaki still thought that some functions could be added. Functions like his special virus killer, Juggernaut. Just as he was adding on the final touches on it the phone rang.

"Hello."

"Hello, Mr. Yamaki. I'm a representative of the Digimon Card Game Corporation."

"So, what do you want?" this guy annoyed him.

"Well, we were wondering in you wanted to hold the Digimon Card Game Championships this year." That brought Yamaki to attention.

"Excuse me?"

"Well every year we have the tournament held by a different company, we were wondering if JOL would like to hold it this year."

"I'll think about it."

He hung up. He had some thinking to do.

He had been up there all day long. It wasn't as if Yamaki hated everything digimon, it was just that he didn't see the point of sponsoring a tournament where he would gain nothing. He wasn't into the card game so it wouldn't even entertain him. 

"Yamaki, what's wrong?" without even turning around he replied.

"Nothing."

"Bullshit. Anyways, I finished adding Juggernaut to JOL for you."

"When will it hit the markets?" Business took his mind off his troubles.

"Don't know." 

He felt her arms go around his neck. He calmed down a little bit.

"Yamaki, please tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing. Some idiots want me to sponsor some tournament." She looked surprised.

"Then why didn't you tell them where to shove it?"

"It was the Digimon Card Championships."

"Oh, then I guess you'll be here for a while. Mitsuo, after you've thought this out get some sleep, ok?"

"Yeah, sure." He grumbled.

She started walking back to the apartment, she faintly heard him say "Thanks, Reika" before she went back inside, a smile lingering on her lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the next day Yamaki had reached a decision. He would do it. But, there was one fatal flaw with every single one of these tournaments. They were so damn predictable! Every year Ruki would sweep the competition right out of the tournament. Some years the other tamers would enter but they never fared any better; she's held the title for 5 years! 

"Hello! You've reached the Digimon Card Game Corporation! We're not here so leave a message, thanks!"

"This is Yamaki Mitsuo, the CEO of Japan Online, I've decided to take you up on your offer. JOL will hold the Championships this year."

While he was thinking last night Yamaki had found a way to make the tournament more interesting, for him as well. All he had to do now was make a call.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey Juri." She looked up.

The bell had just rung and, as usual, Ruki came in late. Juri couldn't understand it, Ruki acts like she doesn't care about school but she still manages to keep a 4.0 average as if it was nothing. The teacher noticed the exchange.

"Kato, Makino. Go stand outside." Juri looked at him desperately.

"But-But, I wasn't-!"

"Out! Now." Juri sighed in defeat.

"Yes, sir."

Juri looked at Ruki, she was smirking. It was nothing new for her to be sent outside, but to a good girl like Juri, who had never been sent out, this was frightening. When the door finally closed on them Juri looked at Ruki in anger.

"Ruki! Why'd you do that? You know I've never been sent out!" she looked at her.

"Don't worry, Juri. It's nothing major, we can just sit here and talk for 20 minutes or so."

Juri looked down at her dress. It wasn't _so_ bad out here, she thought. Maybe 20 minutes of girl talk would be ok. But this definitely was not about to become one of her normal habits!

"Alright, I guess. Hey Ruki, what do you think of this dance thing we're doing in gym?"

"I think it's stupid. But, the swing dancing looks pretty fun, though."

Juri had noticed the swing dancing. Yesterday the teacher had told the pairs to observe different kinds of dancing to get a preference of what they wanted to learn. Her and Takato had decided to go with ballroom dancing. Kazu and Kenta, on the other hand, tried to impress their partners by signing up for break dancing. 

"I see, did you and Jenrya sign up for it?"

"You bet. But, the teach said that we'd only learn the basics. No flips."

"That sucks." Was the only reply Juri could think of.

"Tell me about it. So what are you and gogglehead doing?"

"Ballroom dancing. Don't you think that Takato would look gorgeous in a tux?"

"No, not really." 

Ruki rolled her eyes.

"Ruki, can I tell you a secret?"

"What? That you like Takato?" Juri looked up in surprise.

"How did you know????" Ruki looked back at her.

"I have my ways."

Eventually the two were let back into the class, Juri apologizing all the way back to her seat. Ruki looked at the clock, 10 minutes 'til 1st period ends, guess he forgot about us for a while, she thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Grandma! I'm home!" Ruki yelled.

"Ruki? Why are you home so late?"

"Oh, I had to… _deliver a letter._"

"Oh, ok." Ruki sighed.

As much as she hated her mom there came a time where her assistance would be required. Ruki had hoped that time would never come to pass, unfortunately, it did. It was the day Rumiko had been waiting for, the day where Ruki actually came to her for something.

"Hey mom?"

"Yes, Ruki?"

"I was wondering… how much would it be to take swing lessons?" Rumiko's eyes widened considerably.

"Swing? As in swing dancing?"

"Yes." Ruki had a bad feeling about this.

"OH MY GOD! Mom! Get in here! Ruki wants to learn how to dance! My little baby's growing up. I'll have to get the best, the lessons could even be here…"

Ruki wound up blocking out the rest of it. But hell, she wasn't complaining. She'd be learning how to swing like a pro. But did her mom have to make such a big deal about it?


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Hi again! So, faithful reader, how does life go? Good, bad? Oh well, I suppose shuttin up would be a good idea. Bah, does anybody read these things anyway???

"you know what these do"

(so this is the last time I'm puttin this shit up)

Disclaimer – Bah humbug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So then she goes and calls all these people, searching for the best dance instructor she could find! I'm grateful, but the girl she got wants me to be home at 4:00! The jackass doesn't even leave 'til 8:00! Have I even told you about weekends yet?! Noon to 8:00! That's 8 fucking hours every Saturday and Sunday!"

Jenrya was sitting at his desk doing his homework while listening to Ruki rant about her day. One could say that he was multi-functional. All the while he was also thinking about his black belt test that he'd be taking later in the week.

"Let me get this straight, 4 hours every weekday, and 16 hours over the weekend?"

"Yup. According to my mom I have to start tomorrow." This amused Jenrya.

"Hahahahaha! So now she's forcing you to do it?"

"Shut up. Aren't you going for your black belt soon?"

"Yeah, don't remind me, though. I'm nervous enough as it is." Ruki couldn't see why.

"Why? You'll pass it, have you forgotten how good you are?"

It wasn't that. Jenrya knew that he was a good martial artist, it was just that everyone expected him to do it. He was worried about what would happen if he didn't pass, a lot of people would be disappointed. Not to mention that Shuichon wouldn't let him hear the end of it.

"It's not that. It's just the pressure."

"Oh… huh? Jenrya, I gotta go. I guess my dance teacher's here so I'm getting my first lesson now." Jenrya looked at the clock.

"At 8:00?"

"I guess, she probably won't be staying for the full 4 hours anyway."

"Yeah, oh well. See ya!"

"Bye!"

They hung up. No sooner did he put the phone back down than it rang again (does that even make sense?). This time it was Takato.

"Hey man!"

"Hey, so what's new?"

"Nothin much. But I need some advice."

Jenrya looked to his ceiling. He didn't understand why everyone thought that he could heal any problem that came around. 

"Ok, shoot."

"Well. I have a friend right, and my friend likes a girl. The only problem is that they've been friends for awhile. What should he do?" Jenrya couldn't help it. He rolled his eyes.

"Ok, Takato I'm only saying this once. Juri likes you too. Ask her out dipshit."

He could imagine the face Takato had on right now. His eyes were probably big as saucers and his mouth was most like hanging open. Damn, how he wished he had a camera.

"You really think I should?"

"Yes, I do. Goodbye Takato."

"Yeah, and thanks."

"Sure." He replied.

Jenrya put the phone down again. He sat down in the middle of the floor and started to meditate. Meditating usually helped him clear his mind, and right now he had far too much on his mind. Inhale, exhale.

centerRRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGG!/center

Times like this, having your own phone line really does suck.

"Hello."

"Wassup dude!" It took all of his will power not to slap his forehead.

"Kenta. What can I help you with today?"

"Nothing really. Me an' Kazu were wondering if you'd join us for our prayers."

There was no reply for Kenta. Jenrya had already hung up. To think, my meditating was interrupted because of Kazu and Kenta's prayers, he thought. The idiots somehow believed that praying for Ryo everyday would make him appear. It's cute, but the altar over does it. 

Fuck meditating, I'm going to sleep, Jenrya thought. So he got up, yanked out the phone cord, and went to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was 5th period. Science. Takato looked around him and noticed the teacher was talking to the class. Who cares what protons and neutrons are, he thought. He looked to his left, Jenrya looked bored as hell. He looked to his right, Ruki was asleep. 

He had noticed that she was sleeping in 3rd period too. Ruki usually liked technology. He asked her why she was sleeping and she basically bitched (while whispering) at him for it. She mumbled a "go as Jenrya," before falling back asleep. He looked at Jenrya for an answer, he chuckled before answering.

"Let's just say she was busy until midnight."

Takato gave a quizzical look, before shrugging and turning his attention to the clock. 5 more minutes, he thought, just 5 more minutes. He sensed someone moving and turned to his right again, Jenrya was waking Ruki up.

"Man, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

He paid him no heed. He lightly shook Ruki before she slowly opened her eyes.

"What?" she asked.

Jenrya pointed to the clock and Ruki nodded. Takato was floored. How the hell did he manage to wake Ruki up and still be alive? 

"How'd you manage to get her up without being punched?" Jenrya smirked.

"I had a good reason to wake her up."

Coincidentally, right after he said that, the bell rang.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Takato and Juri were dancing. Even though they both sucked at ballroom dancing they didn't care. Takato kept thinking back to what Jenrya had said on the phone last night, could it be true? Could Juri really like him? Oh well, he'd find out after school, that's when he planned to ask her out.

Looking around him Takato noticed that the teacher had hired dance instructors of all the dances chosen. There was a ballroom teacher, a break dance teacher, a salsa teacher, a swing dance teacher, a mambo teacher, a square dance teacher, and a bunch of other ones he didn't even recognize. 

Looking from group to group it seemed that most of the duos weren't doing so well. Kazu and Kenta were trying to impress their partners but wound up tripping all over themselves. Jenrya and Ruki actually seemed to be making progress, although, Ruki looked like she was bored out of her mind, or was she just tired? Takato looked back down at Juri, she had her head resting on his shoulder, her eyes were closed. Maybe, just maybe, Jenrya was right, he thought. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the swing dancing side of the gym Ruki and Jenrya were dancing. The teacher had just taught them the basic opening moves, and Jenrya was learning them as quick as he could. Ruki, on the other hand, was bored as hell. She had learned these moves in the first 15 minutes of her 4-hour class the night before. From what Ruki could see, this "routine" they were being taught was the same thing as the warm-up excersise her trainers (the girl, the guy, and Ruki's "partner") taught her last night. At this rate, by the end of the period, only half of the excersise will be taught, she thought.

"Ms. Makino, are we boring you?" she looked up in surprise.

"No, why would you be boring me?" she snapped back.

"Because I've just taught the class the next part of the routine and you're just repeating the opening steps over and over." 

Ruki faintly heard the class laugh before she lost her temper. She had missed a good 3 hours of sleep and she was not in a good mood. To top it off this teacher was trying to piss her off even more.

"Excuse me, teach. But I don't really care what you think."

"And Excuse me, Ms. Makino, but I don't really care what you say. All I want you to do is learn this routine." Ruki's reply was simple.

"ARG!"

From Jenrya's standpoint this was very amusing, Ruki was arguing with the teacher… again. Now what's she doing, he thought to himself. Ruki just walked over to the radio, rewinded the song and played it all over again. His jaw dropped as he finally figured out what she was doing, she was dancing out the entire routine! 

The routine only lasted about 2 minutes so it was over pretty quickly, but Ruki had proved her point. The teacher looked on in shock, although she had made a few mistakes, she had completed the routine. The people who had laughed at her before all looked fearful as she directed her gaze over to them. They paled considerably as she walked past them.

"Hey Jenrya, did ya like the performance?"

"All that in 4 hours, eh?" she smirked at him.

"Nope, all that in 1 hour. Another routine in 3 hours."

"I see. Don't look now but here comes the teacher."

They watched as the teacher approached. She looked pretty pissed. Jenrya hoped that they wouldn't get kicked out, he'd seen some of the other teachers, and somehow the thought of putting a rose in his mouth seemed disgusting.

"Ms. Makino, Mr. Lee, since you two are obviously not going to gain very much from this course I'd like to as you to relocate yoursel—"

"Excuse me, miss. But I need to talk to Ruki." Some guy said.

"Oh yeah, and who are you?" she asked.

"Yamaki Mitsuo. The CEO of Japan Online."

"Oh, well, here's Ruki." The teacher said in a feeble voice.

Ruki looked behind her in confusion. Sure enough, there was Yamaki, shades and all. She looked around and noticed Takato, Kenta, Juri, and Kazu looking their way. She looked at him again before speaking.

"What're you doing here, Yamaki?"

Kazu looked over at Yamaki and Ruki. Though he may be stupid he knows that Yamaki wouldn't just show up out of the blue. Yamaki and Ruki started walking toward the door, all he heard was "Ruki, since you're the defending champ-" before the door closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ruki, since you're the defending champion of the Digimon Card Game I have no doubts that you'll make it into the top 10 this year." Yamaki started.

"Yamaki, just get to the point." Ruki deadpanned.

By now they had reached Yamaki's limo that was parked right in front of the school. Ruki had to give him his props; Yamaki knew how to drive in style.

"You live at the same place, right."

"Yeah." Yamaki told the driver where to go.

"Ok, as I was saying before, JOL is hosting the championships this year. Cigarette?"

Ruki accepted (I'm sorry folks, I just can't stand how animes make the world so peachy-peachy). It was actually quite funny how Yamaki found out, Ruki was smoking beside some building and in the end it turned out to be Yamaki's apartment.

"Got a light?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. But anyways, this year I actually want to reward the winners of the tournament. I have a few choices, tell me what you think."

"Okay, shoot." She said.

Yamaki showed her the options and they eventually came to a compromise. Ruki thought it would be fun, while Yamaki considered it to be in his budget. Just as the driver reached her house, Ruki asked her last question.

"Hey Yamaki, when are they going to be held?" he checked his little black book.

"Exactly 2 weeks from today." He replied.

"Alrighty then, see you there, and thanks for the ride."


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Huzzah! I updated. So yeah, read the chapter, review it if you please, flame it if you please. Blah blah blah.

Disclaimer – Still don't own anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After dropping Ruki off Yamaki told the driver to head to the old Hynos building. When the driver started driving again Yamaki brought out an odd looking phone thing. He puched in a few digits… and was met by a busy signal.

"What! How can this be busy! This is an interdimensional telephone!"

Yamaki looked down at the invention in fury. To his knowledge, nobody even KNEW about other dimensions. How could someone even know how to MAKE an interdimensional telephone? It just didn't make sense to him. He looked out the window, thinking of an event that happened 3½ years ago…

__

Yamaki was getting some of his stuff out of the Hypnos building. He had a new thought, he was thinking of calling it Japan Online. Yamaki heard a noise and turned around abruptly. There stood Ryo Akiyama, though he had just met him a month ago the two had hit it off. 

As it turned out, Ryo knew tons about computers, he actually made his digital arm (I have no clue if that's true or not.)_, and from what he said it wasn't the first one he made either. Apparantly, while in the digital world he had another one, it was destroyed. In return, Ryo respected Yamaki's knowledge of electronics and programming. They had become quick friends._

"Ryo? What are you doing here?" Yamaki asked.

"Hey Yamaki. I'm leaving." Ryo replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Yamaki, what I tell you can never leave this room. I'm trusting you."

What Ryo had said next shocked the shit out of him. Ryo said that he wasn't from this dimension. He was really from the Odaiba of the famous Digimon cartoons. He had fought alongside Tai and Yamato, at first Yamaki had thought he was crazy.

"Ryo, at least be honest with me."

"I am being honest. Here, take this." He handed Yamaki the telephone.

"What's this?" Yamaki asked.

"An interdimensional telephone, I've been working on it for years. My number's already on it."

Suddenly a crash was heard. Then out of nowhere Cyberdramon appears. He has an impatient look on his face.

"Ryo, can we go now." Ryo looked at him/it.

"Yeah. Hey, Yamaki. If I come back remind me to tell you about my life story, you'd probably find it fascinating."

"I'll remember that." Yamaki replied. Ryo looked up at Cyberdramon.

"So, ready to go home?" 

Cyberdramon didn't reply. Instead they started walking, Yamaki still looking on curiously. Then, before his very eyes, they disappeared. 

Yamaki stayed true to his word all these years, but he never did bother asking Ryo if anyone else owned an interdimensional telephone. Now that I think of it, maybe I should have, Yamaki thought. About 15 seconds after he thought that the IDT (interdimensional telephone) started ringing. Yamaki answered on the first ring.

"Hello."

"Hey, Yamaki! How's it going?" Ryo asked.

"It's alright. You remember that tournament I was telling you about?"

"Yeah, the card tournament."

"Correct. Can you meet me at the old Hypnos building?" Yamaki inquired.

"Today?"

"Yeah, I need help working this tournament out. Reika and I can only do so much you know?" Ryo got a smirk on his face.

"Ah, so ya finally got with Reika, eh?"

"Shut up. Just be there, ok." was Yamaki's reply.

"Sure. I'll head over there after I say my goodbyes, you're lucky everyone's here."

"Whatever. Bye." He hung up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Bye Yamaki. Alice, you still there?"

"You bet. I heard your conversation, too." She replied.

"Ok, then I don't have to tell you where to go."

"Nope. See you soon, Ryo."

"Bye, Alice. Wait! I have a question!" Ryo yelled.

"Well, what is it?"

"Is Ruki still single?" he asked.

"Look at you! Teasing poor Yamaki about Reika when you can't even tell Ruki how you feel. Good luck dude." Alice ridiculed.

"Hahaha, see ya Alice."

"Bye Ryo." She hung up.

Ryo looked around him. It was going to be sad saying goodbye again. But, he'd return. After all, this was home. Ryo walked out of the room taking in the sights as if he'd never seen them before. In the living room Ken, Tai, Matt, Izzy, Sora, Mimi, Joe, Tk, Hikari, Davis, Miyako, and Iori were all talking.

"Where's Gennai?" they looked up.

"In the kitchen."

Ryo went into the kitchen to see Gennai piling plate after plate of food on the table. It didn't appear that he'd be stopping any time soon. Gennai, he was like an uncle to Ryo. He would say father, but Gennai wasn't as overprotective like most parents, thus, he got the title of "uncle."

True, Ryo would miss the digidestined like hell, but he'd miss Gennai ten times more. Gennai was always there to lend him a hand when he was down on his luck, and so, when Ryo was feeling homesick it seemed totally normal to wind up here. When he first left the tamer-world, Ryo didn't know where he was going, but who was there to greet him when he landed back in the digital world, Gennai. Basically, Ryo moved in and that was that.

Gennai had wasted no time getting the digidestined out here to welcome him back. When they all knocked on the door for the first time will forever be a memory etched in Ryo's mind.

__

A 14 year old Ryo was raiding the fridge. He heard a knock on the door. He looked up with a chicken leg sticking out of his mouth. Apparantly Gennai wasn't planning to make an effort to get the door so Ryo went to answer it. He answered the door and…

"Whoa. Didn't know Gennai knew so many people." He said.

There was a big group of people standing outside the door; in front was a short dude with spiky brown hair. He was wearing a red and blue jacket with flames and… fur? Ryo didn't have much time to ponder this as he was suddenly tackled by a mound of hair.

"RYO! Holy shit, it really is you!"

Ryo looked at the mound of hair more closely. It was Tai!

"Tai! Damn man, is it really you?" Ryo asked in disbelief.

"Oh, c'mon. Who else would have hair this beautiful?" Ryo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, sure. What happened to the goggles?" He pointed to Tai's head.

"This brat won't give them back." Tai replied while pointing to the boy in fur.

Ryo took a better look at the big group at the door. To his surprise he found that he recognized most of the people, it was like déjà vu.

"I'll be damned, the gangs all here."

After he said that he got mobbed. A pat on the back from Joe, a hug from Sora, a handshake from Izzy, a pinch in the ass from, a now pink haired, Mimi, and a smile from Matt.

Ryo was so caught up in the moment that he didn't notice the 4 kids that looked like they didn't know what to do. There was fur boy, a really short kid with a mop top, a girl with long purple hair, a girl with short hair and a camera around her neck, and then there was a guy that looked just like…

"Matt. Please don't tell me this is Tk." Matt looked over.

"Sure it is." Ryo looked back at Tk.

"You probably don't remember me, right?" Ryo asked.

"I sorta remember you, I know your face, but it's not a clear memory."

"How old are you now?"

"I'm 11." He replied.

"Then you have a good memory, Tk." Tk smiled.

"Guys! Wait up!" Ryo looked toward the voice.

Running towards them was a boy with shoulder length purple/blue hair (I dunno if his hair is blue or purple.), Ryo took one look at the guy and knew instantly who it was.

"KEN!" Ken caught his breath before looking at this guy who was running toward him. His eyes widened as he realized who it was.

"Ryo! When the hell did you get back?!" Ken yelled before running towards Ryo.

"An hour ago!" was the reply.

Ryo and Ken met about half way and started hugging like there was no tomorrow. Then, they realized that they were guys, so they quickly broke apart. Then they started hugging again. 

"Hey guys. This is Ryo; he was one of my best friends growing up. He would have been the Digimon Kaizer if I hadn't've pushed him out of the way."

"Eheh, thanks for the intro, Ken. Wait! Digimon Kaizer?" Ryo gave Ken a look.

"Well, I sorta tried to take control of the digital world by enslaving digimon."

"I've been gone for far to long." Was all Ryo could say. 

Seeing that Ryo was friendly the other digidestined introduced themselves. To Ryo, it was like he was finally waking up from a dream. A good dream, but either way, a dream's a dream. It was nice to be home.

Ryo was brought back from his reverie by Gennai poking his head. Ryo looked at him for a moment before hugging him. Gennai was caught off guard, so he wound up dropping the food.

"Ryo? What's gotten into you?" Gennai asked.

"It's nothing. I just wanted to thank you for everything you've ever done for me."

"Uh… you're welcome."

At that moment the digidestined, hearing the food fall, burst into the kitchen. Davis and Tai, seeing the food, started bawling. Ryo cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him.

"Hey, it worked. But anyways, I'm goin back to Tamerland for a month."

"Huh? Why?" they asked simultaneously.

"I'm gonna be in a card tournament." Ryo replied.

"You'll come back this time, right?" Ken asked.

"You bet." He had become reattached to the (not so) little guy these past few years.

Yet again, Cyberdramon appeared out of nowhere. It's pretty cool how he magically shows up when it comes time to go to another dimension. Saves Ryo the trouble of searching for him.

"Ryo, we going back?"

"Yup." Ryo looked to Gennai again.

"Thanks for those lessons ya gave me."

"Feh, we were bored and had spare time. Think nothing of it."

Ryo just smiled at him. Cyberdramon growled in impatience. Ryo glared at him to shut him up. Cyberdramon seemed to get the idea because he kept he growls to himself for a while.

"See ya in a month!" was all the digidestined heard as Ryo and Cyberdramon vanished into thin air.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: OH MY GOD!!!! I got reviews!!!! Man oh man, I love you people sooooooo much. But anyways, thankies (sniff sniff) and keep readin! Haha.

Oh yes, special shout out to lop!!! Thanks for bein my first reviewer!!!

Disclimer: Not rich enough to own Digimon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alice was sitting in some chair she found. She had been waiting in the top floor of Hypnos for about 5 minutes when she heard a noise. Must be Yamaki, she thought. The door opened, and sure enough, there stood Yamaki.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Waiting for Ryo to return." She responded.

"How'd you find out about that?" she flashed her IDT.

"Look familiar?" He nodded.

"I see."

Before any of them could say another word a light filled the room, Yamaki and Alice both looked up in surprise at the light. Then, as suddenly as it came, it disappeared.

"Uh, hey guys." Alice and Yamaki's eyes both widened.

There, standing in front of them, was Ryo Akiyama… and Cyberdramon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thanks Yamaki."

Ryo and Alice got out of the limo. It was decided that Alice would spend the night at Ryo's house and give him a tour of the city tomorrow. What she got out of it? Just the honor of helping out in creating the Digimon Card Game Championships of 2003. 

Ryo's parents commited suicide after he left so he didn't have to worry about anyone showing up in the house uninvited (sorry, had to get rid of them some way.). He gave Alice a tour and let her choose a room, then he retired to his own room.

"Whoa, it sure feels weird to be here after all these years." He said to no one in particular.

The last time he could remember being in this room was when he wrote Ruki that letter. Did she ever get it, he wondered. He looked over to where he remembered putting it. Instead of one letter being there, there was now 4 letters sitting on his dresser. He looked them over; they were all from Ruki. Amazingly enough, one of the leters dated back to just a few days ago. Oh well, might as well start from the bottom, he figured.

__

Ryo,

If you ever come back you're bound to find this. I just want you to know how much of a bastard I think you are. Didn't you know that people actually gave a shit about you here? Damn you. Do you know that Juri's crying over you as I write this? Obviously not, cuz you don't give a fuck, right?

I don't even know why I'm writing this, it's been 6 months since you left and 3 months since I found that fucking letter in your room. To any idiot it's pretty obvious that you don't intend on returning anyway. You fucking coward.

-Ruki

Well now. That was totally optimistic, Ryo thought. He looked over that letter once more before putting it back on the dresser; there were still 3 more left to read anyway.

__

Ryo,

It's now been 1½ years since you vanished. A while back I decided that I'd leave one of these letters in your room for every year you've been gone. Thanks for leaving the window open. 

Ya know, I still detest your very being. But I don't hate you. As much as I want to. I still believe you're a coward that can't just face the present and stop thinking about the past. But I don't hate you, you just piss me off so much sometimes. Stupid Fucker. There was a time where I thought I understood you, but I just can't see why the fuck you had to desert us like that.

-Ruki

You're welcome, Ruki, he thought to himself. The idiocity amazed him; he left that window open so that she would be able to receive his letter. Now it seems that she used the very same window to deliver her letters. 

__

Ryo,

Yeah yeah, it's me again. 2½ years have gone by now. Did you know that magazines are printing articles that say that you were killed? I KNOW you're not dead so just get your ass back here and prove the paparazzi wrong.

Ya know, just a few weeks ago I finally realized that you were gone for good. I graduated from Junior High not to long ago. I don't know why, but I always thought that you'd be there with me. To give me moral support, ya know? I guess I lost it. I remember asking Jenrya where you were and he told me that you were gone, that you had been gone for 2½ years. It was like a slap to the face. I remember going to the bathroom and crying my eyes out. If you ever read this I hope you're satisfied, you finally got me to feel something for you besides hatred.

-Ruki

Right around now Ryo felt like one of the most worthless people alive. He had made her cry. If it were anyone else it would have been all right. But the one person that Ryo couldn't stand to see crying was Ruki. He looked at the last letter; it was a lot longer than the others…

__

Ryo,

Hello. Basic update, it's been 3½ years. I'm now 14 years old. You're now 18 years old. I'd like to say that I've grown up and I'm sick of chasing a dream. I accept the fact that you'll never be returning to piss me off or get the last laugh. I'd never admit this aloud, but I think I have the strength to write it down on paper, I miss you. Even though I never really **knew** you, I miss the way you'd always be there for me, I look back on the memories and notice that you had a special way of getting me out of my "funk." I miss the way that you'd try soooo hard to get me to be your friend, you may not have known it but I had forgiven you. It was during that moment where I gave you my strength, you know which one. But anyways, looking back over what I wrote over the years, a quote I directed to you sticks out. I said that you were a coward that just couldn't face the present and forget about the past. Who was I fooling? Can't forget about the past… look at me, writing letters to a person that won't even get a chance to read them.

Ryo. In the letter you gave me you said that one day I'd understand why you left. When I first read that I thought, what the fuck? Is he crazy? But now, I finally think I understand it. Last night I had a dream. It was more of a memory, actually. It was back when you were still here and we were all naïve and stupid. I was in my younger body, but I still kept my memories. So even though I was happy that we were all together I knew it wasn't right. At first I tried playing along with the dream, acting as if nothing could tear us all apart. But I eventually got sick of pretending, I knew that you would eventually leave, and we'd all change because of it. To put it simply, I didn't belong with that group, and I got to missing the life I had. So, even though the dream had brought me happiness, I still missed the life I live now. I woke up with tears in my eyes. Ryo, I'm sorry but I can't keep writing these yearly letters. I have to move on, so I guess this is Goodbye.

Love, 

Ruki

center_p.s. Ryo, I finally forgive you for leaving all those years ago._/center

__

That night Ryo cried himself to sleep. He dreamt about a tunnel. There were two ends of it and he was caught in the middle. At one end he saw Gennai attempting to balance 4 plates of food. At the other end (of the tunnel) he saw Ruki climbing through his window with a letter in her hand. Ryo didn't know which way to go, so he stayed in the middle of the tunnel for the rest of the dream.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Hi critics! Well, nothin new here. I just got bored after finishing chapter 5, so I kinda kept typing. That's about it. Yeah, nothin much to say… so errrr, sit back, grab a soda, and read the damned chapter.

Disclaimer: Poo on you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ryo. Ryo, wake up." Alice tried nudging him again.

"Ryo… GET UP!" she yelled into his ear.

For the last 20 minutes Alice had been trying, in vain, to wake Ryo up. It was about 11:00 am and Alice wanted to get an early start on the tour. In her mind, the sooner she finished showing Ryo around, the better. But… first she had to wake him up.

"Cyberdramon? Are you around?" Alice asked.

"What do you want, you're wasting my time." He replied out of nowhere.

"Whatever, how do you get Ryo up?" she asked.

Cyberdramon looked down at Ryo, a look of amusement plastered on his face. Ryo was randomly mumbling incoherent words while rolling around on his bed. Cyberdramon looked back at, a now impatient, Alice.

"Well, are you going to just stand there all day?" she demanded.

"Shut up, human. Anyways, he'll eventually roll off the bed." He replied.

"About how long 'til that happens?" Alice looked up at Cyberdramon.

"5 minutes, at the rate he's going. But, if you want to get him up faster, then just… hit his weak spot."

Alice widened her eyes in surprise. Then she eventually calmed down. She doubted that Cyberdramon had meant for her to stomp on his (penis, dick, nuts, twinkie, take your choice.). But what did he mean then? Ryo wasn't ticklish as far as Alice knew, and she didn't want to be the one to find out. Unlike most girls, she DID NOT have a crush on Ryo Akiyama. His fan club? No, they aren't as vicious as they once were, with his vanishing act and all. Uhhhhh… Duh (!), Alice thought, why didn't I think of it before?

"Oh my god! Hey Cyberdramon! Have you heard the news! Ruki's going out with KAZU!!!" she sqealed like an over excited schoolgirl. Ryo's eyes shot open.

"I'll kill him." A now very awake Ryo said.

"Need a knife?" Alice asked, barely able to control her laughter.

"How about a magnum?" Ryo shot back (no pun intended.).

Alice couldn't hold it in anymore, she burst. "PWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ryo's look was priceless; it first contorted into shock, then into anger, then into something in between. If one had looked quick enough they would have noticed that Cyberdramon had a hint of a smile on its face, but of course it was soon replaced by his usual empathetic look ¼ of a second later.

"Alice, that was soooo not cool." Ryo said, still in shock.

"I'm sorry… sorta, but it was the only way to get you up." She said in defense.

"I don't get it, you and Cyberdramon both seem to think that it's impossible to wake me up."

"Ryo, it is." She replied simply.

Cyberdramon and Alice left the room so that he could get ready. Ryo took another look around the room before his eyes fell on Ruki's letters. She said that he wasn't thinking about how the others felt when he left. But were they thinking about him? In Ryo's mind it was simple. He didn't belong in the tamers' world; it was like he was intruding. After all, he wasn't even from this dimension.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Here's the school, here's the mall, here's the Hypnos building."

Since Yamaki had made it crystal clear that Ryo wasn't to be seen until the tournament, Alice was giving Ryo a tour from the air. Even though it took a while to persuade Cyberdramon into doing it Ryo eventually got him to agree. So now Cyberdramon's sorta jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Alice pointing out places along the way.

"Here's the arcade, here's the movie theatre, and here's the JOL building."

Yamaki had told him about JOL. Ryo thought it was funny that a guy that once owned a company that was 100% secretive now owned a company that eveybody knew about. It just goes to show that the idiocity of the world was amazing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello, Japan Online. Wait, I'll connect you now." The receptionist said.

Alice looked at the receptionist. She was a lady that looked about 35 years old with long brown hair and green eyes. By the way she talked one would think that she was a "perfectionist."

"Excuse me, how may I help you?" she looked down at them with disgust in her eyes.

The receptionist (I've decided to name her Betty) looked down at the two young punks. Betty thought that they were disgraceful, the guy wouldn't even show his face, he had on a sweatshirt that was far too big on him and the hood covered his face entirely. The girl, on the other hand, looked like Satan's child (Sorry if you don't believe in the implication). Betty wanted to call security on them now, but she had to be polite.

"Um, hi. We were wondering if Yamaki was here." Betty's eyes widened.

"Mr. Yamaki doesn't have time for the likes of you, so be gone!" she yelled.

Coincidentally, Reika was just walking in from her break at that moment. What she saw astounded her. Betty was yelling at two kids for seemingly no reason. I knew choosing her as a receptionist was a mistake, Reika thought.

"Betty, what is going on here?" Reika snapped.

Betty looked up. She nearly slapped her forehead. There stood Reika Ootori, the vice-president of Japan Online. Even though Reika was nice, it was common knowledge amongst the employees that Reika and Yamaki were more than friends, and Yamaki was NOT nice. He definitely wouldn't appreciate her yelling at their prime investors, teenagers.

"Ms. Ootori! I didn't even see you come in!" Betty started.

"Betty, answer my question." Reika deadpanned.

"Um, well… you see." Betty didn't even get a chance to finish.

"Your receptionist wouldn't let us get in." Alice said. Reika gave Betty a glare then looked back at Alice.

"Hey Alice, did your grandpa change his mind or something?" Reika didn't expect to see her there.

"No, he's still going to Paris. But Yamaki said I could help out if I showed around _Ryu_ here." She pointed to Ryo.

Reika looked at "Ryu." Yamaki had told her that Ryo would be coming back. When she had asked him how he knew he didn't answer. Looking at "Ryu," Reika knew that he was none other than Ryo Akiyama.

"I see. Ryu, long time no see, 3½ years I believe?" Ryo knew she knew.

"Yup, nice to see you Reika." He replied.

After hearing their side of the story Reika fired Betty and lead them all to the top floor of the 100-floor building. Quite the ride cosidering the fact that they started on the 1st floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

The real folk blues

I only want to know what real happiness is

All that glitters is not gold

Ruki was sitting in class. 2nd period, to be exact. To Ruki this was her most hated class; nobody was in it! So she usually just sits back and listens to her music.

__

Ruki had just walked through the front doors of her new school on the first day when she had been mobbed. Two senior boys walked up to her, Ruki didn't know if they came in peace or not.

"Hey, um, are you the Digimon Queen?" one of them asked.

"Um, yes." She replied.

"Hey Guys! It really IS her!" the other guy yelled to his friends.

Ruki was then mobbed by a huge group of seniors asking for her autograph, her picture, her clothes, one guy even asked for her VIRGINITY. She had knocked that one out cold. She eventually got out of the crowd and made it to the administration desk. There she saw all the tamers giving her amused looks.

"Geez, Ruki. We've only been here 10 minutes and you're already more popular than all of us combined."

She growled at them to shut up while she went to get her schedule. Once she got it she gave it a once over then went to the group to see who she had in her classes.

"Ok, I got math 1st, social studies 2nd, technology 3rd, language arts 4th, science 5th, and gym 6th. Who has what?"

After about 5 minutes of comparing Ruki had discovered that she had 1st period with Juri, 3rd period with all the guys, 4th with Jenrya and Juri, 5th with Jenrya and Takato, and 6th period was the class that all the tamers had together. But still… there was no one in her 2nd, maybe she could be nice and make new friends? Ha! Fuck that, she thought.

The teacher never knows that she listens to music in class, all day long the teacher just takes notes and gives the class assignments based on what she was lecturing about. Ruki just takes the notes and studies them for another time. Contrary to what other people believed, she did care about her grades. The thought of summer school just… sucks.

Ruki looked back at the teacher, she looked like she was yelling. Wait a minute (!), Ruki thought, is that ALICE behind the teacher? It was then that Ruki noticed that she was the one being yelled at. The message came loud and clear when the teacher found her diskman and turned it off…

"RUKI! I have been trying to get your attention for the past 5 minutes! You just sit and stare into space, so I come over to find out why and I find… THIS! Well, now, it's mine. Oh yeah, please go with this girl. She says that you should already be checked out from the office."

Ruki just gave the teacher one of her infamous ice glares before leaving with Alice. Though she may have been glaring, she was really wondering why the hell Alice was here. Like Yamaki, Alice didn't usually come around for no reason; and, coincidentally, they've both come to see her this week. 

"Heh, you got busted." Alice said.

"Shut up. I have a spare anyway." With that Ruki took out another cd player from her coat pocket.

"Ahh, slick." Alice said apprehensively.

"I know." Ruki smirked.

Once they reached their destination Ruki was nearly floored. She took a double take, to make sure she wasn't seeing things. But, sure enough… there was… the Yamaki Limo. Why the hell would Yamaki be showing up twice in one week? Yamaki suddenly came out of the school, a scowl on his face. 

"Well look who's all sunshine." Alice said with a smirk on her face. Yamaki looked at her.

"Fuck off, I'm not in the mood." He replied. Ruki just sorta looked on in confusion.

"Yamaki, Alice, why are you here?" Ruki asked.

"Get in the car, I'll explain on the way back." 

"Back where?" Ruki was still wondering why the hell they were there.

"Huh? Oh we're going to the Japan Online building." He responded.

He let the two girls in the car. Once Ruki got in the first thing she noticed was that they weren't alone. Besides herself, Alice, and Yamaki, Ruki also saw Reika and some guy she didn't know. He is in a pair of crimson cargos with a matching black shirt with a crimson skull on it; he also has a red bandana around his neck. He has black hair and his eye color remains unknown due to the shades that he's wearing… Yamaki's cousin perhaps?

"Hey, who are you?" she asked him.

"Felix, and youself?" he inquired.

"Ruki." She said, surprised that someone didn't know who she was.

"Hey, Ruki. Can you stop flirting with Felix for a moment? We're here." Alice spoke up.

Ruki looked at Alice in shock. She wasn't flirting with Felix; she was just introducing herself… But then again, she never introduces herself to anyone! Ruki looked over at Felix again, ok; she had to admit that he was cute. But if that's the case then why does she feel that she shouldn't be flirting with him. It was almost as if she was saving herself for someone.

"Aw shucks. Betty's still here." Alice said. The re-employed Betty looked up.

"Oh, you're back. Hey, where did that one guy go?" Betty asked.

"Ryu?" Alice asked.

"Yeah! That's the one." Betty replied.

"Oh, he had to go. He'll be showing up later." Felix said. Betty looked at him.

"And you are?"

"Felix. Nice to meet you… Betty." He said in an obviously fake voice.

As the group started walking away Alice had to put in one more jab to Betty.

"Hey Betty. Next time, try not to sound so fake." Alice gave a triumphant smile and walked off.

Ruki watched the duo bitch out Betty with boredom obviously showing on her face. She eventually tuned out and started thinking about her guy issues again. Who could she be waiting for? Jenrya? No, dating him would be like dating a brother, Ruki thought. Takato? Ruki would have considered this if it weren't for one specific problem, Juri. Just yesterday Gogglehead had finally gathered the courage to ask her out, she said yes. Besides, if it were Takato wouldn't she have noticed sooner? Cross him off the list. Kazu? In his dreams, maybe. She didn't even consider Kenta; they don't even really know each other. 

Ruki was getting frustrated. If it wasn't one of the tamers that she was waiting around for, then who the hell was it?!? Hang on (!), Ruki thought, could it be… him?

__

About two weeks ago Ruki was talking to Alice on the phone. They started out with simple things, but then they eventually got to boys…

"Alice, I'm serious. You and Jenrya would really hit it off!" Ruki exclaimed.

"Ruki Ruki Ruki, for the last time, NO!" Alice replied.

"Are you still hung up on Kazu?" she asked.

"No! When we broke up I stopped liking him. Besides, he's too immature." Alice said.

"Thus, you should give Jen a chance! He doesn't care about how you look on the outside; to him it's all about how a person acts. He'd also be able to put up with your insano ramblings since everyone seems to go to him for advice!" she insisted.

"Ruki, if Jenrya's as great as you claim, why don't you go out with him?" Ruki stared at the phone.

"Alice, Jen's just my friend. I don't have feelings for him."

Ruki didn't get it. Everyone seems to think that she and Jenrya had a thing going on. Now, even Alice seems to think so. Is it so wrong for a girl to have a guy as a best friend?

"Yeah, I guess that's true. But you wanna know something?" Alice asked.

"What? Ruki replied.

"I've been looking over some old pictures, you and Ryo sure stood together a lot."

"WHAT!!!!! I know you're not implicating what I think you're implicating." Ruki started.

"Ruki, calm down. It's getting late. Look, I have to go, but I just wanna say something. You and Ryo look cute together, think about it."

Alice hung up. Ruki just sorta started at the phone. Her and the 'Legendary Tamer' as a couple? Nah. He ain't even here anymore, Ruki thought to herself.

Ruki looked up at the ceiling, could it be Ryo? Was she really waiting around for Ryo to come back? She thought back to the letter she left at his house a few days back. Instantly, she knew her answer. Yes, it could be him, but she wouldn't know for sure unless he ever showed up again.


	7. Chapter 7

Author Notes: Hello and Happy Thanksgiving! Well, for the Americans at least, eheh. But anyways, here's the next chapter blah blah blah. Just review when you're done, okie dokie??

This chapter is for KristiexxNguyen, thank you for the reviews!!!!

Disclaimer - Geez, these things are sooooo pointless

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, Yamaki. What do you want with me this time?" Ruki asked. He sighed.

"Well, this could take a while. Cigarette?" he offered. Felix and Alice looked surprised.

"Why Yamaki, is this becoming our tradition or something?" she took the cancer stick.

"Well, if it is, then you're most likely about to ask if I have a light." He smirked.

"Yup, that's about it." She smirked back. He brought out his lighter.

"Anyways, this is kind of embarrasing to say, but I'm having problems." Ruki raised an eyebrow.

"Problems?" she inquired.

"Yes. You see, everyone in this room is working on the tournament." He said.

"And~?" she didn't understand what he was saying.

"Us four and one other person are the only people working on this tournament."

"What! How about the Monster Makers, or anyone else for that matter?!" she demanded.

"Well, I've already tried calling them. Coincidentally, they're all going out of town and wouldn't be able to do much. Reika even called one of my old technicians, Megumi, she's busy up until next month. Frankly, I don't trust anyone else."

Ruki thought for a moment. Yamaki was right, Jenrya's dad was going to a funeral within the next few days. The only reason Jen was staying was because of his black belt test.

"I see. But what does that have to do with me?" Ruki asked.

"Your prize idea, the one about renting a plane then flying to the USA and back. With my current workload it can't be done." He responded.

"What? Why not!?"

"Just think about it. I'm leaving you in charge of coming up with a new prize."

He walked away. Ruki looked around, Yamaki had joined Reika at her computer and the two were talking in computer language. Alice and Felix would occasionally say something in computer language and then it would be back to Reika and Yamaki. 

Then Ruki remembered what Yamaki said. She still didn't get what was so wrong with renting a plane for 10 people. Most of the time they'd be in the air, and then they'd just hang around the States for a day or two, and then they come home. Sure, it seemed simple, but then Ruki got to thinking. Let's see, including airtime, the trip'd last about 5 days, she figured. But then again, a lot of little kids wouldn't even be able to go due to their age. Hell, if this had happened when she was 9 her mom wouldn't've let her go, regardless of her title. Then there was the whole visa bit. Ok, Ruki was starting to understand Yamaki's POV.

Hmmm, Ruki thought, since Yamaki put me in charge of this I had better come up with a good prize. Let's see, what do people like to do? She made a mental list: shop, flirt, dance, sing, play games, listen to music, etc. Next, she thought of ways to get around: cars, planes, trains (Heh, that rhymed!), boats, busses, and subways. She tried putting her ideas together in many different combos.

"Arg! This is frustrating!" Ruki mumbled to herself.

"Need help?" she looked up to see Felix smiling down at her.

"Don't you have work to do?" she asked.

"Oh, I finished a while ago." He said.

"Oh, ok then. Here, have a seat." She said, scooting over to give him room (Let's just say Yamaki has a couch, ok!).

"Heh, thanks Ruki. Ya know, you're not as hardcore as you come off." She smiled.

"I could say the same abut you." She replied.

"Yeah, but, coupled with you glare, the clothes don't help you any."

Ruki looked down at herself; Felix DID have a point. Ruki was currently wearing a black pair of pants, a black shirt with an, almost white, purple broken heart (her symbol thingy) smack dab in the middle. To top off her look she wore some leather combat boots with purple laces, and a trenchcoat. Against all the black, the purple really made her eyes stand out too.

"Oh well, at least I don't have a skull right on my shirt." He looked down.

"Point taken."

About 20 minutes, and 200 ideas, later, it seemed that a solution was finally made. Ruki told Yamaki about the idea and, with much persuading, he agreed. He then made a few calls; and, a few green lights later, a prize had been decided. With that all said and done, there was one slight problem.

"Hey guys, it's about 3:45 now, I have to be home by 4:00." Yamaki called his driver.

"Thanks, you have no idea how much trouble you just got me out of." Ruki said gratefully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At 4:20 (420 hehehe.) Ruki walked in the door of her house. Even though Yamaki's driver was fast, the lights weren't with them, most turned red just as they approached. So, when Ruki came in the door she came face to face with her mother.

"Ruki! Where have you been? You know I don't pay for these dance lessons just to have you come late!" Rumiko yelled.

"Excuse me! I had some stuff to do!" Ruki retorted.

She had no time for this. Ruki just walked past her pissed off mother, said hello to her grandmother, and went into the room where she knew her trainers would be.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." She said.

"Don't worry about it. Your mom did enough yelling."

Ruki, sorta surprised at the response, took a better look at her trainers. Now that she got a better look at them she noticed that they really weren't all that old, she'd guess that they're all about 16. Since they all came straight from the USA they all had a little bit of a laid back attitude… when they aren't teaching.

First off, there was Shannon. Shannon was a girl with black hair that went down to about an inch above her ass. Shannon's hazel eyes also had a tendecy to turn green in the light. Overall, Shannon was pretty, but she had one hell of a temper. Ruki usually just kept her mouth shut when Shannon got pissed.

Next, there was Trevor. Trevor was Shannon's dance partner. Trevor has sandy blond hair and blue eyes. If one looked close enough they would notice that Trevor had freckles right below his eyes. Trevor seemed to be pretty nice, but at times his mouth would get away from him and he'd wind up sounding like an egotistical jackass.

Lastly, there was Ruki's dance partner, Riley. Riley has brown hair that is always gelled into his trademark 'spiked' look. Riley also has brown eyes that seem so deep; it makes most girls fall all over themselves just to get him to notice her. But, the thing Riley was missing was charm. Sometimes his stupidity amazed Ruki.

"Touchè, so… should we get to work?" Ruki asked.

"Yeah, I guess." They replied simutaneously.

So, they worked. As usual, Ruki got exhausted as hell while the other three came out smelling like a rose… literally. Shannon had brought some rose scented body spray. Ruki watched, astounded, as the girl who was pushing her to Hell's end just 5 minutes ago, was now chasing around Trevor and Riley with body spray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Jen, you have to enter!" Ruki wailed.

"Okay, let me get this straight. The Digimon Card Championships will be held soon and you want me to enter--" Jenrya replied.

"Well, yes." She said simply.

"--and you won't tell me when they are, or what this mystery prize is you keep talking about." Jenrya stated.

"Oi! I already told you, I promised Yamaki that I wouldn't say anything, sorry."

Jenrya looked to the sky. It'd be much easier if Ruki would just let a few things slip, but he knew that with Ruki, mistakes don't happen very often. Ruki knows that he doesn't really like the Digimon Card Game and he figured that she wouldn't ask him to enter this tournament without reason, so he agreed. 

"Ok Ruki. I'll enter, but you swear it will be, oh how is it said? Worth my while?"

"Yes yes." Ruki assured him.

"Should I tell the others about this" he asked. There was a momentary pause.

"Tell… Takato and Juri, but no one else. Remember, the public isn't supposed to know about this."

"Yeah, right." He said.

They talked fow a while before they eventually hung up. Jenrya then called Juri and told her what he knew, but all the while making it clear that, if she told Takato, Kenta and/or Kazu absolutely could NOT get wind of it.

"The Digimon Championships?" she asked.

"Yeah, she wouldn't tell me anything else except that they were gonna be soon and that it would be worth my while." He replied.

"Well, Jenrya. You know that I never really got into that so I really don't know if I'll enter. Heck, if I did I'd most likely get beaten in the first round, heh."

Jenrya pondered this. What Juri said was true; she was terrible at the card game. Or, to be blunt, she sucked ass at the card game. Even though Ruki had tried many times over the years to get Juri to learn it, she never did get the hang of it. Currently, even _Kazu and Kenta_ were better than Juri.

"Well, no offense, but you do have a point there." He stated.

"Yeah yeah I know. Hey, Takato's coming over later, can I tell him?" Jenrya thought for a moment.

"Sure, but make sure he doesn't go telling Kazu and Kenta." He said seriously. 

"Ok! I'll make sure that fact gets drilled into his head." She said.

"Promise?"

"Scouts honor! (I dunno if there are scouts in Japan, but can't you see Juri as a Girl Scout?)"

They hung up. Jenrya decided not to take the chance. It would be too much of a hassle if something went wrong. Yes, Jenrya had decided. He stood up. Walked to the wall… and took out the phone cord.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Well, shitson. This chapter is long. Oh well, hope my 'oh so hard' efforts are appreciated. Haha. Man, the things people do when they're bored. Oh well, yup, nothin else to say… so just scroll down.

Disclaimer - Yawn. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We'll be making the bridges out of kabob sticks, you each will be cutting--_"_

Kazu looked around him in boredom. Who cared about making a bridge? What he really wanted to know was what Takato was talking about with Jenrya and Ruki. The three of them were huddled together debating something…

"I told you! Yamaki said I can't tell anyone." Ruki hissed.

Kazu looked behind him. The former was now looking around, apparantly nobody was supposed to hear that. Hmmm, Kazu thought, so Yamaki and Ruki are keeping something from everyone else. Maybe they're having an affair?

"Okay class, come get your supplies!"

As Ruki walked by Kazu gave her a smug look. She gave him a quizzical look in return. As she went and got the supplies Kazu went to a table and sat down. Ruki eventually came with the supplies and Kazu, once again, gave her the smug look.

"And why do you look so smug?" she asked him.

"I know your secret." Ruki, Jenrya, and Takato paled.

"Oh yeah!" she challenged.

"Yup. You're having an affair with Yamaki!" he blurted.

Ruki stared at him for a moment. During the next moment he was falling towards the floor, it took him a second to figure out that he had been punched. In the next moment he hit the floor.

He awoke a minute later to see Kenta looking over him. The teacher hadn't noticed, luckily for Ruki. But the teacher did notice when Kazu got up and started arguing with Ruki.

"Ruki! What'd you hit me for!?"

"You… assumed wrong" she answered cooly.

"KAZU! RUKI! Outside now!" the teacher barked.

The two of them heard the snickering of the class as they headed outside. Once they heard the door close behind them they both sighed, obviously being sent outside was nothing new to either of them.

"So, I'm stuck outside with you, eh?" 

"Just. Shut. Up."

The two of them stood in silence for about 20 minutes before the silence was interrupted by someone walking in the empty corridor. Kazu and Ruki looked up in surprise at the intruder. Kazu noticed Ruki's eyes widen for a moment before she nodded to the person.

"Felix. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Why I'm coming to get you, of course." He smiled. She smiled back.

"Fun… why couldn't ya guys get me out of school sooner?" he shrugged.

"We had to drop Ryu off." Ruki gave him a look.

"Who the heck is this Ryu I keep hearing about? First, with that secretary, and then now." Felix didn't answer.

Kazu watched the two leave the building (Lets say the classroom was by the entrance.), he blinked a couple of times. Was it just him, or was Ruki actually _flirting_ with that Felix guy? He blinked again, who WAS that Felix guy?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ruki looked around, she saw the Yamaki Limo… but where was Yamaki? Before she had a chance to state her inquery Alice's head poked out of the limo.

"Hey Ruki! Get in, we have to make it to your photo shoot!" Ruki's head snapped up.

"Photo shoot! Hell no!" she yelled back. Alice gave her an impatient look.

"Ruki, I'm not going to argue with you, just get in."

Before Ruki could protest Felix showed up, hoisted her over his shoulder, jogged over to the limo, opened the door, placed her in, got in, and away they drove.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Felix! Drive faster! We're already late enough as it is!" Alice yelled.

Ruki was still observing her surroundings. They were definitely in Yamaki's limousine, but it seemed that herself, Alice, and Felix were the only people in it. She shared the back with Alice while poor Felix was driving as fast as he could to make their appointment.

"Hey Alice, who's Ryu?" Ruki asked. Alice looked up.

"Huh?" she asked. 

"Ryu, Felix said that you guys came late because you dropped Ryu off."

"Oh, that Ryu. Well, you already know him, I'll tell you that much. Ryu's just his alias because he doesn't want people to find him. He's helping out with the tourney." She finished.

"Oh, so who is he? Really, I mean." Ruki inquired. Alice smirked.

"That's a secret."

The rest of the trip was filled with: Alice yelling at Felix, Felix eventually closing the window therefore blocking out Alice's yelling, and Ruki protesting about having to do a photo shoot. Eventually the window came back down again.

"Ladies, we're here." Felix stated simply. Alice looked at her watch.

"Not too bad, only five minutes late. C'mon Ruki."

"Yeah, ok." Ruki had calmed down since she noticed that this wasn't the same building her mother modeled at.

They went in and an employee led them to the studio where the photographer was already waiting. He saw them all come in and he sighed in relief.

"Phew, you guys made it. Now, off to makeup with you." He nudged Ruki toward the makeup area.

"RUKI?" Ruki looked up.

"Shannon? What are you doing here?" Ruki asked.

"Your makeup apparantly. Now sit still, ok?" She then yelled something in English.

"What do ya mean Ruki's here? Whoa! Like, it's Ruki." Riley suddenly appeared.

"Hey, it IS Ruki!" Trevor said as he came with clothes. Riley scratched his head. 

"I thought we were going to beautify a queen." He said. Ruki facefaulted.

"Hey, Riley, that's my title. I'm the Digimon Queen." She informed him.

With that being said everyone got to work. Shannon, as she already said, got to work on Ruki's makeup. Trevor was running back and forth with clothes that he'd put on top of Ruki, seeing if the colors worked. Riley was busy mixing colors together to find a perfect color to accentuate her highlights with, he had already decided that Ruki's hair would be down, much to her dismay.

"C'mon Riley, does my hair really need to be down?" she tried pleading.

"Yes, it does. Stop turning your head, your hair will be messed up."

About 30 minutes later Ruki was getting her hair washed. Not an easy thing to get done when one has a ton of makeup on their face. But, in the end, it somehow worked out. Her highlights had been changed a bit, there used to be many thin streaks, now there were few thick streaks. But, Ruki had to admit, it looked good.

Her makeup was simple, yet classy. She had on a thin coat of gray eyeshadow, and some scarlet lipstick. When Ruki was finished she looked in the mirror; there was _something_ about her outfit that felt farmiliar. She couldn't put her finger on it, though. 

She was wearing a black miniskirt, with gray and olive green trim, and a gray top, one sleeve was a long sleeve, the other one was like a tanktop. The shirt had her broken heart symbol in it, in olive green. She wore olive green knee-high socks, and some scarlet combat boots to match the scarlet choker around her neck.

"Are you sure this isn't overdoing it?" Ruki asked. Shannon looked her over.

"Nope. Ya look great, and to think… these posters will be posted worldwide!" Ruki paled.

She knew that these pictures would eventually be turned into posters. She knew that this would be a necessity to get the knowledge of the tournament around. She even knew that these posters would be distributed nationally. But… worldwide?

"Worldwide? You're joking, right?" Shannon gave her a look.

"No, I'm not. Didn't you know that people come worldwide just to participate in this tournament?" she asked.

"Nope, I thought it was just national." Ruki replied.

Damn, Ruki thought, all these years I was beating people from as far away as England! Ruki considered herself lucky, she didn't have to travel very far, the tournament was always right there in Japan!

"Wow, so I truly am the best." Ruki said without thinking.

"Now that's an egotistical statement." Alice walked over to her.

"Huh? Oh, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that I always thought that I'd be able to go to some place where the battles would be tougher. But all this time I was already taking on the best of the best. I never knew. It's pretty cool!" Ruki decided. 

"Yeah, it is." Alice agreed.

The two girls headed over to the "picture taking area." (Sorry, don't know what that area is called.) So, while everyone watched, Ruki started posing. Sometimes the shots would get her looking angry (most of them), and some would actually have her smiling (very few). This process went on for a while; and 2 hours, and 8 rolls of film, later they were pronounced finished. 

As the trio looked over the pictures Ruki had made a conclusion, modeling was a bloody hell, and she looked far too cutesy for her own tastes. But, it was too late to take more pictures, so she was stuck choosing out the 10 that would eventually become posters.

"What do you think of this one, Ruki?" Felix asked. He held up a photo.

"No way! I'm actually smiling in that one." Ruki protested.

"Oh you worry too much. You look _cute_ in this shot." He argued.

"Please. If you like the picture so much you can keep it." She retorted.

"Alright, I will keep it." He then pocketed the picture.

Ruki sighed and looked at Felix. He was in his normal outfit, complete with bandanna. She didn't understand him, he had the appearance of a "I-don't-give-a-fuck" drugee, but his actions suggest otherwise. Whenever she was with him she got a happy feeling inside. She'd feel content, like she didn't have a worry in the world.

"Ruki. These pictures all look alike. Why don't we just randomly pick 10 and get the hell out of here." Alice suggested. The trio looked at each other.

Then they picked 10 random pictures… and got the hell out of there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now where to?" Ruki asked.

The three of them were back in the Yamaki Limo, Felix driving again. They still had a good 3 hours before Ruki was due home… and no clue what to do and where to go. 

"Rollerblading? Where would we go?" Felix asked.

"There's a rink by my house." Alice replied.

"Hang on, Alice. Can't we go another time?" Ruki asked. 

"Why?" Alice asked, confused.

"Simple, everyone's still in school." Ruki replied. Alice nodded.

"Hey Felix! You busy next Friday?" Alice yelled to him.

"Nope, why?" he asked back.

"Cuz I've decided that we're all going skating next Friday."

"Why don't we go there later, if you want to go on a Friday." Ruki asked.

"Yamaki got us working late tonight." Felix answered. 

"Ok, then. How about the mall?"

Nobody answered. The silence made it unanimous, Felix jumped onto the highway, and they all headed to the mall. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Die!"

"Never!"

Ruki was bored. She looked away, embarassed, as Alice and Felix tried to kill each other at _Pac Man_. Apparantly, the goal of the game, in their mind, was to force their teammate into the ghosts. Ruki just sat there and watched.

"Haha! I win!" one of them yelled victoriously.

Ruki didn't even have enough time to see which one won before they had run off to the nearest game to test their skills against each other, _THE Digital Digimon Card Game_. Ruki went over to the game, and looked for a place to sit around and wait for them to finish. Before Ruki had even had a chance to sit down Felix was yelling triumphantly.

"Take that Alice!" Ruki noted that Felix was a pretty good card player.

"Hey Felix, you know you should--" Felix and Alice ran to the next game.

"--join the tournament." She finished. 

Ruki looked outside, currently they were in the arcade. The moment the trio had reached the mall, Alice and Felix took off. About 10 minutes later Ruki had found them duking it out in the arcade. They had been there since.

"Hey guys! I'll be right back. There's a fun looking store next door."

The two barely ackowledged her statement and nodded simutaneously. Ruki then left the arcade; she went to the store she had mentioned. It had an odd feel to it, with incense and candles everywhere. She noticed a few various Tarot Decks sitting around too. A kindly looking lady came out of the stock room.

"Oh hello there. Didn't hear you come in." she said.

"I just came in, curiosity I guess." Ruki replied.

"I see. You know, for $2 I can read your fortune." She started.

"Lady, I'm sorry, but I really don't believe in that sorta stuff." Ruki parried.

"Hmm, I see you and a girl with light hair, a traumatic past causes her to have such a dark aura. There's also a boy who has a gray aura, he's seen both happiness and sadness, he's… not who he seems." Ruki's eyes widened.

"So what? You could've seen me come in with them." The lady only smiled.

"I also see a boy close to you, you love this boy, but only as a friend. He has blackish, or maybe bluish, hair? But this boy has been feeling extremely stressed lately due to something that he really shouldn't be worrying about." Ruki's mouth now hung open.

"You said $2 right?" Ruki asked.

"Yes, that's correct. But I thought you didn't believe." The lady chuckled.

Ruki gave the lady the money and was led to the backroom. It was a simple room, with lavender walls and silver furniture. Ruki and the lady each took a seat. The lady then closed her eyes.

"What is you name, child?" she asked.

"Ruki." 

"Okay, Ruki. In your past I see accomplishment. An award? Maybe some high honor? But, if I look farther back I see depression and lonliness, one certain event caused a series of events and, in the aftermath, you made a sudden change. Your family life is very severe, it's almost nonexistent. Sadly, it is soon about to be ravaged beyond repair. But, through it all there is happiness for you. It may come from an unexpected source, this source is somehow tied into your intricate past. In your future I see uncertainty. Hidden underneath it all there is also disbelief, all set by a chain of events. Slightly after that there will be a lot of disillusionment, it might feel like being woken up from a dream, or awakening from a trance. Ruki, I'm sorry, but you once again shall enter depression as well. But look to the source I had mentioned before and it will guide you to a resolve, that's as far as I will go. The chain of events has already begun, within the next month your life will be changed forever." She opened her eyes.

Ruki didn't know what to say. Uncertainty? Disillusionment? To Ruki it was all coming too fast. She didn't even know where to start. She thanked the lady before leaving her a tip and walking out.

"Ruki! There you are!" Ruki turned around to see Alice and Felix running her way.

"Hey guys. Finished at the arcade?" They smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, so… where did you go?" Ruki looked down.

"Oh nowhere, just around." She said. She shrugged.

"So, who wants food? I'll buy."

So the trio went to the food court and got their food. All the while, Ruki was still thinking about the fortuneteller's words. What did she mean by my family being ravaged beyond repair? As far as Ruki was concerned her grandmother was the anchor, and herself and her mother were each passengers on the boat. Oh well, Ruki thought, I can't waste my life away wondering about the future, I guess whatever happens; happens.

"Ruki? Have you heard what I've been saying?" Alice asked.

"Huh? Wha-? Oh sorry." Ruki said apologetically.

"It's alright. But anyways Ruki, ya know the prize right. There's a little problem with it. Ya see, we can't fit--" Felix cut her off.

"Alice, shut up. We're in a MALL! Remember, nobody even knows about it yet."

"Yeah, I guess that's true. But by next week…" she trailed off.

Ruki knew exactly what Alice was implying. By next week everyone week everybody would know about the championships. Then came the part Ruki hated, being the defending champion, within the week before the tournament she knew that she'd be mobbed by different reporters, chased by the paparazzi, and most likely become even more popular in school then she already was.

"Fuck. Don't even remind me." Ruki said.

"That bad, huh?" Felix asked sympathetically.

"Would you believe that someone actually asked me for my virginity on the first day of school?"

"Who is it? I'll kill him... It was a him, right?" Felix suddenly asked.

"Yes yes. Don't worry about it, I knocked him out cold." Ruki giggled.

Alice's eyes widened. Did Ruki actually giggle? Alice wasn't sure but she'd swear that Ruki was changing. Changing for the better, too. But… did Ruki actually giggle?

"Um, yeah. So… should we be heading out now?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure." The other two replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the first time this week things were looking up. Yamaki gave a satisfied smile as he watched the posters being printed one after the other. There were times when Yamaki thought that he would never get this tournament completed. But, with the help of Reika, Ryu, Felix, and Alice, the tournament would be finished in time. With 12 days left Yamaki was sitting around and relaxing… sorta.

Yamaki thought about his luck. For the first few days planning this tournament was hell. But that was simply because himself and Reika were the only people working on it. Then came what Yamaki likes to call the 'most coincidental day in his life.' Ryu and Felix amazingly appear out of nowhere and, though he'd never say it aloud, Alice proved herself to be very knowledgable with computers. But hell, who could blame him for worrying about Alice, she was the youngest by a good 4 years, she didn't even go to school! 

"Hey, Yamaki. Your break's over." Yamaki looked at the source.

"Ryu. Where are Alice and Felix?" he asked.

"Aren't they getting the posters out of the way?" Yamaki nodded.

"Oh yeah. Hey Ryu, answer me this. These posters will be distributed worldwide tomorrow, so here in Japan, the posters will be up today. Do you think 12 days is too short of an amount of time for people to sign up?" Ryu pondered this for a moment.

"No, not really. The hardcore cardplayers will be ready no matter what." Ryu responded. 

Yamaki thought about that. It was true, he figured. Though the D-Reaper incident had taken place 4 years ago, the memories were still fresh. Not very many people can say that they had any idea as to what had happened, but it was obvious to anyone that, infact, the creatures that were fighting were actually digimon. So, to put it simply, digimon never went out of style. Yamaki sighed as he reminisced about the "good old days."

Hypnos. How he missed it. One would probably find it silly that Yamaki preferred an obscure company to the extravagant one he now owned. But, Yamaki thought wisely, success isn't all it's cut out to be. He had at least 3 press conferrences every week, and the papparazzi just loved getting his picture. Hell, Yamaki wasn't complaining, he was truly grateful for everything, but… sometimes he wondered what could've happened if Hypnos had stayed alive.

"Yamaki, I'm going to start posting some posters." Ryu left.

Yamaki looked to the corner where Reika was furiously typing away at her computer. Yamaki gave one of his rare ass smiles. Maybe his new life wasn't as bad as he thought.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Hello critics! I hope you all had an awesome weekend. Peoples from America, hope your Thanksgiving was fun. Geez, at my house we had an awesome feast… potatoes, rice-a-roni, and _CHICKEN_! Really, who needs turkey when you could have chicken?

Hmmmmm, now who will be my newestest favorite reviewer???? I guess that would be ssjlavenderkid! Why thank you for all the support, I do deserve more reviews (my ego has been fed), don't I? Hahahaha. But yeah, don't worry. I am a true Ryuki fan at heart. But hey, who knows?

Junk I forgot in the other Author's Note: Oh yeah! nothing really serious to say here, just pointing something out. In this chapter there's some slight (heh, slight my ass) implications of an Alice-Kazu relationship, just know that I won't be pairing these two up. I already have a partner for Alice and Kazu both. 

Disclaimer – Shit Bitch Damn Motherfucker!!!!! Man, now that's an awesome tongue twister.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"THE DIGIMON CARD TOURNAMENT!!!" Kazu yelled.

"Yeah." Ruki replied apathetically.

Ruki wondered how she got into this position. Ruki looked to Jenrya for help. He just shrugged. Ruki also wondered when the hell her best friend decided to abandon her in her time of need.

__

Back in the Yamaki Limo the trio was leaving the mall. Yet again, Felix was driving. And yet again, Ruki and Alice were just "chillin" in the back.

"Why do I always have to drive?" Felix whined.

"Duh! We're both to young to drive." Alice pointed out.

"Oh yeah. I forgot."

Ruki rolled her eyes at the pair. At times she wondered why **they** never hooked up. She had asked Alice about it once but Alice had just brushed the thought aside. Now was another one of those times where Ruki wondered why they weren't together.

"Alice, stop smirking. Felix, keep your eyes on the road." Ruki didn't want the limo to crash.

"Yeah yeah."

"Dudes, what time is it?" Alice asked suddenly.

"About 2:30. Why?" Felix and Alice paled.

"OH SHIT!" They yelled together.

The rest of it was a blur to her. She remembered them saying something about distribution and the post office, and then she was suddenly on the ground watching the limousine speed off. Coincidentally, the group happened to be walking by at that moment.

__

"Hey! It's Ruki!" Ruki looked up.

"Huh?" she blinked. 

"Ruki! Where have ya been?" Jenrya asked.

"Around." She replied. Jenrya raised an eyebrow.

"Ya know… for the thing." She implied. He nodded.

"Oh, I see."

The group walked around for awhile before deciding to go to the malt shop. The malt shop was cool, it was a common hangout for all the high school students. It was a place where you could get ice cream, hang out, or even play games, there were a few arcade games scattered around the place. The moment they walked in Ruki knew something was wrong. All the students were crowded around one wall, apparantly looking at something.

"Oh my god! Like, her outfit is like so like cool!" Some prep yelled.

"Who cares! Read the poster!" her companion urged.

Before Ruki had a chance to put two and two together, she was charged. All the students that were previously at the wall happened to notice the Digimon Queen walk in. 

The group took that moment to look at the poster that everyone was obsessing over. They all gasped at what they saw. Ruki was in this black, olive, and red outfit, smirking at the camera. Below that, "Can you take her off the throne? Digimon Card Championships 2003, enter today!" was written. What shocked them even more was that the championships were being held by Japan Online, Yamaki's company.

Kazu pushed his way to the front of the crowd. Once there he took a deep breath. After his lungs had taken in the maximum amount of air he yelled.

"THE DIGIMON CARD TOURNAMENT!!!" 

Ruki just glared at them all. This was what she feared, throughout the 12 days between now and the tournament she was positive that she'd be in demand. Being in demand was not something Ruki was fond of, not at all.

Jenrya watched the forthcomings with a smile on his face. He noticed Ruki look to him for help, he just shrugged. In his mind, this was payback for her leaving him without a dance partner. Watching her struggle with all her "adoring fans" almost made him feel guilty… almost. He watched as the mob, lead by Kazu, cornered in on her. In this moment Jenrya did something he rarely ever does, he smirked.

Takato just merely blinked. At this moment Takato was putting two and two together. After reading the poster he realized why Ruki was always hanging out with Yamaki over the past week. It eased his mind. As crazy as it seemed, Takato had really thought about what Kazu had said the other day. He now felt really stupid, but what could he say? Ruki wouldn't spill any details, except that he should enter the championships. He chuckled to himself. 

Juri looked up at Takato. Since they were standing beside each other she heard him chuckle. Oh well, she'd just ask him about it later. Looking back at the poster Juri took a better look at Ruki's outfit. She gasped at the irony. She hid her face and smiled, she'd definitely have to be talking to Ruki later.

Shuichon read the poster. She also noticed Ruki getting mobbed. She didn't exactly care about any of that. As she read the fine print that everyone seemed to neglect she raised an eyebrow, "To the top 64 finalists a prize will be awarded." As she read that Shuchon got to thinking, maybe entering this tournament wouldn't be so bad. Now all she had to do was learn how to play the game. No worries, she thought, she had the Digimon Queen on her side!

Kenta was too busy trying to defeat King Koopa to notice what was going on around him.

Ruki looked around for any escape route she could find, unfortunately, there was none. She looked to the door, there was quite a crowd there but she could probably make a break for it. Before she had a chance to make a decision she heard a familiar voice.

"Ruki! Get in!"

Ruki looked to the source, sure enough there was the Yamaki Limo. Alice's head was sticking out of the window and the door was now open. Ruki didn't even hesitate; she grabbed the nearest tamer and made a break for the door. The duo made it to the limo and got in. She noted that, for once, Felix wasn't driving. As she turned to see which tamer she rescued she suddenly paled. She had grabbed the _nearest_ tamer. That meant…

"KAZU!!!!!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Juri? Yeah it's me. Just meet us at the park ok? Alright bye!" Ruki hung up.

After Ruki realized that she had saved Kazu she got pissed for awhile. Eventually Felix successfully calmed her down. Once Ruki returned to her normal state she had brought out her cell and called Juri. Between the two of them a rondevous point was made, and, currently the limousine was heading straight for the park.

"Uh. Hey Alice." Kazu said tentatively.

"Hirokazu. It's been awhile." She said back to him.

"Yeah, it has. How have ya been?" He asked.

Ruki could feel the tension between the two. Alice and Kazu had ended their year long relationship a few months ago, from the looks of it they didn't end on good terms. Now that she thought about it, no one really knew why the two had broken up. Felix, whom she was sitting beside, was pretty lost, though. He leaned near her and whispered.

"Ruki, what's with those two?" He asked.

"They went out for about 1 year and broke up for seemingly no reason." She whispered back.

"Oh." Was all he said back.

Ruki was lost in her own world. Lately she found herself thinking about Felix. The way he acted was like no one else she ever knew, it was intruiging. Ruki noted that, after asking about Kazu and Alice, Felix didn't move away. But hell, who was she to complain?

"Listen Kazu, how about we cut the bullshit." Alice suddenly said. Kazu nodded.

"Alice, why'd we end on such bad terms?" he asked the question that everyone was wondering about.

"I don't know, Kazu. I really don't know."

__

About 2 months ago…

Kazu walked up to the amuesment park. He was supposed to be meeting Alice here, but he was late. It wasn't his fault… this time. He wouldn't be stupid enough to come late today. It was their 1 year anniversary, he didn't intend to blow it. But, somehow he did; he was late.

"Kazu?" he looked up. His jaw hit the ground.

There stood Alice. But, somehow, it wasn't Alice. She was wearing, well COLOR for one, a white miniskirt with a white overcoat. Since the coat was open it revealed her ice blue shirt. The shirt would rise about 4 inches every time she raised her arms, so it showed off her pierced navel. To finalize her look, Alice let her hair down and wore some ice blue knee high boots with white belts going across the front. 

"Hey, you ok?" Alice asked.

"Uh… yeah. You look nice." Kazu barely got out.

"Of course I do." She haughtilly replied.

The two of them set out to do some serious ride riding. Kazu slung his hand over Alice's shoulder. She just smiled in return. It seemed like nothing could break these two apart.

By the end of the night the two were exhausted, but happy nonetheless. Since it was nighttime the two of them started heading home. Kazu, being a gentleman, offered to escort Alice home. It was here where the two of them said a bunch of shit that they both regretted.

"Thanks again for the teddybear." Kazu smirked.

"Don't worry about it, I only blew $4 trying to knock the bottles over." He replied.

"Oh, poor baby. Ya know, I can't believe it's been a year." Alice said.

"Seriously. But, you wanna know something funny?" he added.

"What?"

"If I didn't know you I never would've asked you out. People that look like you are usually depressive and suicidal." He said obliviously.

"I wouldn't've said yes to you, either. People like you are usually stupid and braindead." She added obliviously.

It took a moment for them to realize what their consequtive other had just said about them. After realizing it the two of them faced off.

"DEPRESSIVE AND SUICIDAL!"

"STUPID AND BRAINDEAD!"

"Where the hell do you get off calling me that!" they both yelled.

"Shit! If you think that about me than you really are braindead!" Alice yelled.

"Fuck you! I'm not braindead!" Kazu defended himself.

"Fuck me? Fuck yourself! I don't need to take this from you!"

"Damn straight. We're through." Kazu shook his head at her.

"You're actually right about something. I'm dumping you." Alice said venomously.

"Whatever. I don't care, just leave me alone!" Kazu yelled at her.

"Fine! I will!" she yelled back at him.

As soon as she yelled that they reached her house. She quickly ran into the house and went to her room. From there she watched Kazu leave. It was right around then when she realized what had happened. She burst into tears and cried.

As Kazu walked away from the house he gave one last look at Alice. She was now opening the front door. He turned around and went on his way; his house was only a 20-minute walk from here. As he turned the corner, he would deny this later, a single teardrop fell out of his eye.

Looking back on it now they both realized that they both fucked up. Though they couldn't fix the past, they knew this was a perfect chance to set the record straight.

"Listen, Kazu. I don't find you stupid and braindead… all the time." He smiled.

"I don't find you depressive and suicidal… most of the time." She smiled.

"Good enough for me."

The two of them hugged. It wasn't the same, though. There was something missing… passion. It seemed as if the two of them were no longer in love.

"Alice, what was that?" Kazu asked.

"A goodbye, I guess. We've both moved on." She replied. He nodded.

"Ya know, I haven't gone there since that day." He trailed off.

"Same here. Are you thinking, what I'm thinking?" she asked. He smiled.

"To the amuesment park!" he yelled.

When no response came he looked at Alice. Her mouth was agape, and her eyes were wide. He looked at what had her so shocked. His reaction was very similar… only he blinked a couple times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. 

There, right in front of their eyes was Ruki Makino, ice queen extremist, sound asleep laying her head on Felix's shoulder. Felix, also asleep, had his head resting on top of Ruki's; he also had his arm around her. 

To any observer it was pretty obvious that Ruki would've killed most guys that even tried to put his arm around her. The only exception that Kazu could think of was Jenrya. So why would this guy that she just met be able to the impossible? Before Kazu had a chance to ponder it Ruki woke up. She took in her surroundings and quickly broke out of Felix's embrace, a blush lighting up her face.

"Eheh. So, what's everyone looking at?" Alice and Kazu facefaulted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey Juri. Ignore going to the park. Kazu has somewhere to go and it's 3:45, enough said. Yeah… ok… see ya!" Ruki hung up.

After waking up Ruki realized the time, so right now the Yamaki Limo was going to Ruki's to drop her off. The next person to be dropped off would apparantly be Felix, Kazu and Alice made it specifically clear that the two of them would be going somewhere and they didn't want anybody to go with them. 

"Grandma, I'm home!" Ruki yelled.

"Hello Ruki. Oh my. Your hair has changed."

"Tell you about it later, promise!" Ruki yelled as she headed to the "training room."

Grandma (I REALLY NEED THIS LADY'S NAME!!!!!!) just shook her head, and went ot the kitchen to start dinner.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Hi critics, long time no type! Well, not a LOOOONG time, but long enough, ya know? Anyways, yeah. I was having a really bad week and just didn't wanna do anything. So sorry sorry, and I'm (more or less) back. Geez, it's been a long week.

Ok, moment of truth. Who will be (bum bum bum) my favoritest reviewer??? Bah, I guess it would be ShadowedLight, thanks for telling me to get off my lazy ass and get back to this. So yeah, I'm back. Happy? Happy?

Disclaimer – Nutritious and Delicious… tastes like Chicken! Line was stolen from Fern Gully, one of the best movies EVER!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today was the day. Today Jenrya would be attempting to get his blackbelt. He was standing in front of the dojo. Where is she, he thought, she promised she'd show up. He kept looking around and was about to give up when he heard her yelling in the distance.

"Jen! Hang on, ok!!!!" she ran up to him.

"Hey Ruki, I was afraid you wouldn't show." She cocked her head to the side.

"Never. I've been waiting to see this."

"Thanks Ruki." He said gratefully.

The two of them hugged. Then they went inside the dojo, Ruki quickly wished him good luck and they split. Jenrya went with the rest of the students while Ruki went over to the spectator area.

"Ruki!"

Before Ruki had a chance to react she was tackled by the 10 year old Shuichon. Ruki looked to where Shuichon had been a moment ago, she saw the Lee family waving at her. Ruki was eternally grateful for the Lees. They knew how crappy her home life was, and they were always there for her. As she walked over to them she ignored the people that were commenting on her.

"Isn't that the Digimon Queen?" one guy asked.

"Yeah, wonder what she's doing here." Ruki ignored them.

"Hey Mr. Lee! Don't you have a flight to catch?" Ruki asked.

"It got postponed." Janyuu replied.

"I see." Ruki took a seat.

Jenrya looked around him. There were about 9 other people that were going to take this test, they all looked as nervous as he felt. All the chattering around him stopped as the sensei walked into the room.

"Hello. For the 10 of you this will be the final test, the test to see if you are worthy of wearing a blackbelt. The test is simple, all you have to do is break the pile of bricks. If you can not break all the bricks you shall fail. Good luck to you all." He said.

Jenrya sighed, how hard can it be to break some bricks? His eyes widened as the pile was unveiled. The pile consisted of 20 bricks, one on top of the other. To prove that it could be done, his sensei walked up to the pile and chopped them as if they were nothing. All the students blinked, then blinked again. 

Jenrya was brought out of his trance state when some dude came up to him and told him to draw a number. He drew "4." Well, Jenrya thought, I guess I'm 4th. Jenrya paled as he watched the first dude, all he succeeded to do was break 7 bricks. The dude walked away dejectedly. As Jenrya watched he noticed that the other three didn't do any better. They broke more bricks, but so far no one had suceeded in breaking all 20.

"Lee Jenrya." Jenrya sighed.

He walked up to the bricks, they had just been restacked. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his thoughts, it didn't work. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You can do it, Jen!" a voice rang out.

He looked up at the stands, Shuichon and Ruki were each giving him a thumbs up sign. He smiled and once again closed his eyes. He took a deep breath…

"HYAA!" He yelled.

His hand hit the bricks. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer. He heard the thunk of brick hitting floor and opened his eyes. His face fell as he looked at the bricks. He did some quick calcultions, 19 bricks were split. He sighed and walked away.

__

THUNK!

Jenrya abruptly spun around. He almost fainted at what he saw, the last brick had clunked to the floor. Jenrya looked to his sensei for confirmation, he nodded. Jenrya did something of a victory dance as the spectators clapped in appreciation. Jenrya Lee had just passed his test!

"Dude, we made it!" someone yelled.

"Shhhh." His companion tried to shush him.

A few people looked at who just walked in. There was a guy with goggles on his head, and then there was his loud friend, some dude with a black visor. Ruki looked at them and shook her head.

"Now you know why I don't carpool with them." Shuichon smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jenrya sighed in contentment. After getting his belt his dad treated the family to dinner. Though he couldn't pronounce the name of the restaurant (some fancy smancy French restaurant, ya know, the ones where you have to have reservations and stuff) he thought it was pretty cool that his dad knew the owner of the place. He now officially had a place to bring a girl on the first date. They hadn't ordered yet but Jenrya was already happy, the waiters attended to his every need. The only complaint Jenrya had was about his attire, he was wearing a tuxedo.

Suddenly a ruckus was heard outside. Since the Lees were seated by a window they had an oppurtunity to see the events unfold firsthand. They all gasped at what they saw. Jenrya burst out laughing at the scene.

A limousine pulled up (No, not the Yamaki Limo) and out came some good-looking famous guy. The reporters swarmed him in a moment. But that wasn't it, the next person to come out was, none other than, Rumiko Makino. She started posing for all the cameras while her boyfriend was busy soaking up the interviewers. 

But the both of them got upstaged by the third person who exitted the limo. Ruki Makino was the last person to walk on the red carpet. She looked stunning in a simple black dress. It was backless and had spaghetti straps for sleeves; Ruki looked as if she was in pain in the 5-inch heels she was wearing. The media didn't care about that, though.

"Ruki! Are you going to be defending your title this year?"

"Ruki! Is it true that you're taking up modeling?"

"Ruki! I've heard that you have a thing with a blue-haired boy, is it true?"

"Ruki! Can you lift your skirt a little higher?"

"Ruki! What do you have to say about the disappearance of Ryo Akiyama?"

Ruki had had enough. She rudely shoved her way through the crowd and into the restaurant. She was just getting her head cleared when she heard her name called.

"RUKI!" she heard from 3 sides. She looked to one side.

"Ruki, me and Fabio will be sitting over here, you can get home on your own right?"

"Yes mother." She replied. She looked to another side.

"Ruki, what are you doing here?" It was Jenrya.

"Hey, my mom's on a date. I'm here for the food." Ruki looked to the third person.

"Ruki, how's it going." It was Alice.

"Great. What are you doing here? In THAT, not to mention." 

Alice looked down. Her and Ruki's dresses were practically the same, the only real difference was that her dress wasn't backless, and her heels were different. Oh, how she pitied Ruki. She saw the performance that went on outside.

"My dress is awesome, I know." Alice smirked.

"Yeah yeah. So what are you doing here?" Ruki asked again.

"Oh, Yamaki was treating all of us tounament makers to dinner. Ryu and Felix didn't go, so I was stuck with Yamaki and Reika. Can you say third wheel?" she noticed Jenrya.

"Oh, hello Jenrya." He blinked.

"Hey Alice."

The three of them talked for awhile. Ruki joined Alice at her table, she had moved to get away from Reika and Yamaki. About 5 minutes later Jenrya joined them as well, the table was only two booths away from the Lees table so they were easily within seeing range. The trio ordered their food and it was eventually brought to them. At one point Alice excused herself to the ladies room.

"So Ruki. How'd you make it to the dojo?" Jenrya asked.

"Mom excused me from class today because of her date." Ruki replied.

"Oh." He opened his mouth then shut it.

"What's on your mind?" Ruki asked.

"Nothing. It's just Kazu was telling me about you and this guy called Felix." He trailed off.

"Let me guess, you want the dirt?" He nodded. She filled him in on the details.

"Well, I like him but I dunno if he likes me back." He nodded thoughtfully.

"Ruki, what about Ryo?" he asked.

What about Ryo? That question rung in Ruki's ears. What about him, she wondered. Did she look like she'd just wait around for him 'til the day she dies?

"What about him?" she responded stubbornly.

"Ruki, don't be immature. You don't leave him letters for nothing, you know?"

"Listen. This year was the last one. No more." She mumbled.

"Ok then. Be that way. But you can't just brush aside what happened at the graduation."

Ruki almost started crying as she remembered what happened that day. That one day that will haunt her forevermore.

13 year old Ruki looked in the mirror. She was going to be graduating from Junior High this year. This day, to be exact. As she looked at her dress she sighed. No doubt the papparazzi would be there to get pictures of the Digimon Queen graduating. She sighed again.

"Ready to go, dear?" Ruki looked up.

"Yeah. Do you think I can do this Grandma?" she asked.

"I'm positive. You look lovely." Ruki hugged her.

"Thanks. Let's go." Her mom was waiting outside with the car.

At the school Ruki had already been cornered by 3 reporters, she was pissed. She swore, the next person who asked for an interview would be socked.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ruki's fist went back. Then she noticed it was Juri.

"Sorry about that. I'm just frustrated by all the reporters." Juri smiled.

"They aren't." She pointed to some random guys.

Ruki looked at the two of them; she had beaten them at the championships a few months ago. They sucked ass. But, look at them now.

"Yeah man, she totally payed me to throw the fight." The media soaked it up.

"Really sir?" the group of reporters asked.

"Totally. I would've beaten her otherwise." He nodded.

Ruki left the room to collect her thoughts. She was extremely nervous about this whole graduating thing, it was all just more pressure to her. To top it off the papparazzi was trying to corner her at every turn, all Ruki wanted was some peace and quiet. 

She wished that she had a person to confide in. She immediately thought of Jenrya, but he just wouldn't understand. He wasn't chased by people everyday of his fucking life. Yamaki would probably understand, but she hadn't talked to him since he found her smoking at his building 3 days ago. Their talk would probably be extremely akward anyways. 

Who was there? Who knew what it was like? What I need, she thought, was moral support. Someone who would be there to ease her mind and tell her it's ok. Ryo Akiyama. Huh, she thought, why'd she think that?

"THERE SHE IS!!!" Ruki looked up.

"Ruki! Can we get an interview?!?!"

FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*

"Ruki! How does it feel to be graduating?!?!"

"Can you smile for us?"

"Ruki, face this way!"

FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*

"Ruki, how do you feel about Ryo Akiyama's death?" She cocked her head.

"Yes, our sources say that you two were close. What do you have to say on that?"

FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*

"Nevermind that then, but… how do you feel about his disappearance?"

"Yes yes. You two ARE the King and Queen after all."

FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*FLASH*

Ruki couldn't stand anymore of it. She got up and ran as fast as her shoes could take her, the media getting pictures all along the way. Ruki, right now, was physically and mentally unstable. She knew it too; she also knew what usually helped her out. She started having memories of D-Reaper, and the Digital World… and Renamon. She hadn't seen her in 3 years. But right now it seemed as if time was compressing, so 3 years ago was now like 3 minutes ago. Ruki was getting lost in her own mind.

"Ruki? You ok?" Jenrya suddenly appeared.

"Hey Jen. Where's Ryo? I gotta talk to him." Jenrya gave her a look.

"Ruki. Ryo's gone, remember. He's been gone for 2½ years." Ruki paled.

"No. It can't be. You're joking, right." Ruki started hallucinating.

"Ruki, are you ok?" Jen felt her head. She felt normal enough.

"He's gone. But I- But I- Nooo!"

Ruki ran. She heard Takato ask where she was going. She ignored him and went straight to the bathroom. There she sprayed some cold water on her face and shook her head. Then she noticed the tears. One by one they came, next thing Ruki knew she was sitting on the floor crying.

"Ruki? You in here? Wha-? Ruki! What's wrong?" Jenrya appeared again.

"Jen, he's not coming back is he?" Ruki asked. Jenrya knew what she meant.

"I don't know. Maybe he'll return someday." He tried reassuring her. She just cried even more.

"I can't believe he's gone." She whispered. Jenrya hugged her. She got his shirt wet.

"It's ok, Ruki. It's ok."

About 20 minutes later the door started to open. They both paled and Ruki quickly got into one of the stalls. Jenrya went to the door to see Juri.

"Juri! What are you doing here?" She gave him a look.

"You know you're in the girl's bathroom right?" she asked.

"Yeah. Listen, it's all overflooding in here. So tell the other girls to stay out."

"Ok. " she nodded and went off to the nearest restroom.

"Thanks." Ruki got out of the stall. He smiled.

"Sure. Now wash your face off. We still have to go on stage." She smiled.

"Duh! Oh, and Jenrya. If you tell anyone about this I will chop off your penis."

"Point taken." Somehow, he knew she was serious about that.

Ruki was suddenly brought back from her reverie to see Jenrya waving his hand in her face. She quickly composed herself and thought about what he had said.

"You're right, Jen. I can't brush that day away--"

"I told you so."

"--but, you said it yourself. Ryo's gone. I won't wait forever." Jenrya nodded.

"You have a point there." Alice suddenly came back.

"So, did I miss anything?" Jenrya and Ruki facefaulted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryu sighed as he flopped down on his bed. According to Alice, Ruki had been asking questions about him. As much as it touched him he was trying to keep a low profile, well, at least until the tournament, that is. Hell, if it weren't for the whole low profile bit he would be running errands with Felix and Alice.

He looked at his calendar. Hmmm Sunday, he thought. That left only 8 days until the preliminaries… and 10 days more days until his reappearance. 

He took another look around him, it's nice, he thought, but it's not home.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Hola! Wow man. There really are people out there that read this, CRY CRY! I LOVE YOU PEOPLE!!!!!! Cough. Anyways, ehehehehe. I sorta got suspended for a few days, so I decided to add more to the story (opposed to doing homework). Why do homework now when you can put it off for a few days????

ShadowedLight, hahaha thanks for the laughs. But damn, they really _do_ get the digimon back??? Hmmm, I'll rememeber that but I seriously doubt I'm gonna add them in for anything more than a cameo. Hahaha, yes, I think you did mention that you hated Felix.

KristiexxNguyen, too much Ruki/Felix eh? Hahahahahahahaha. No worries, it will die down… eventually. Heh, but please don't kill him yet. I only need him for a few more chapters, then you can have him. Man, poor Felix will have a gruesome death won't he? 

Cennamo, WHEE! Wow thanks for passing this fic around! Hahahaha, just tell your buddies not to flame me, okie dokie? Oh yeah! And of course you can be my newestest favorite reviewer. So here we go, this chapter is for you!

Disclaimer – Wow, this is the 11th disclaimer. Well, I'm damned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next Monday at school was hell. Hell for Ruki, that is. Everyone else was just along for the ride. As Ruki repeatedly got swarmed, the Tamers repeatedly got shoved. It became even worse during gym. In the gym 6th period, 3 classes take place. Not to mention the classes were doing a dance unit, which meant that the students had, quite of a hell of, a lot of freedom. Poor Ruki never stood a chance.

"MS. MAKINO! This is the 7th time in the last 10 minutes I have caught you talking."

"Sorry teach. Not my fault." Ruki said never missing a beat.

"Well then, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Ruki smirked.

"Yes, there is. Can I use the microphone (play along, folks.)?" the teacher blinked.

"I don't see why not."

The teacher smiled (This teacher will be called Lauren.). Lauren knew very well why everyone was bugging Ruki. But, it was interfearing with class. If it were between periods Lauren would most likely be sitting there cracking up at Ruki's expense. Oh well, she figured, at least Ruki will end it now.

"Hey class! Listen up!" Ruki yelled. Most of the students looked at her.

"Gogglehead, Juri. Stop making out with each other and please listen."

The couple in question quickly broke apart blushing profusedly. It was too late, though. By the time they had broken apart people were giving catcalls and whistling. A few of the soccer players were yelling "Go Takato!" Ruki cracked up at the chaos she created.

"Ok folks, as I was saying. You all know I'm the Digimon Queen, reigning champ, blah blah blah. I've been getting mobbed left and right from all you people asking me about the tournament, so here I am to answer questions. First off, how to enter. You can either call up Japan Online and enter that way. Or you could just go to the building and sign up there. Second, I know the posters say that the tournament is on Wednesday, but the preliminaries will begin on Monday, so be signed up before then. Third, if any of you scored in the top 3 last year than you don't need to bother with the preliminaries."

Kenta glowered with pride. Even though Ruki made him and Kazu look like rookies, against other people the two of them were exceptionally good. Ruki had beaten Kazu in the first round (this is all from the last tournament) so he had been cut early on. Kenta, luckily, didn't face her until the semi-finals, where he had secured himself into 3rd place.

"Ok, any more questions?" Ruki asked. Some dude spoke out.

"Is there any other way to sign up?" Ruki smirked.

"Yes, there is. I can personally sign someone up. But, I won't be signing up anyone unless I feel like it so don't expect me to do it for you." His face fell.

"I heard that there's a prize!" Lauren yelled.

"Yes, there will be a prize for the top 68. That's all I can say, though." Her face fell.

"Who was that bomb ass guy that came to get you last week? That one guy, he had a black and red outfit, and a bandanna around his neck!" Ruki blushed.

"That's none of your business!"

The rest of the period consisted of people, students and teachers alike, asking Ruki questions about the tournament. To Ruki it was boring, she already knew this stuff. But, she figured this was the only way to get them off her back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello Betty." Ruki said chirpilly.

"Ruki." She said back.

"Soooo, who have I signed up again?" the grumbling Betty brought out the list.

"Takato. Jenrya. Juri." Betty read the list thusfar.

"Okay, can you add Kazu, Shuichon, and Kenta. Oh, and take Juri off the list."

"Ms. Makino, I need last names." Betty tapped her foot.

"Ok then. Matsuda, Lee, Shiota, Lee." Ruki said.

"How about Kenta's?" Betty asked impetiently. 

"He came in 3rd last year, look him up yourself." Ruki smirked and left.

Betty grumbled as Ruki left. She hated doing that girl's bidding. But, like most people, she knew who that girl was. The Digimon Queen… figures that she'd have ties with Yamaki as well. Geez, first it was that Alice girl and that Ryu guy, then it was Ms. DigiQueen and that Felix person. 

Betty gulped as she looked towards the door; Ruki was getting mobbed by students. She knew what that meant… after Ruki got away they'd all be coming inside to sign up. Hahaha, she did not plan to sitck around for that show.

"Mariko, I'm taking my break." Mariko nodded in response. Betty left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Juri sighed in contentment. She and Takato had gone to a movie that night and she sure as hell felt happy. Takato is such a good boyfriend, Juri thought, I'm lucky to have nabbed him.

School had just let out. So basically everyone was leaving the accursed place as fast as their legs/cars could take them. But, inside the school, there were still a few students.

"DAMN! It won't open!" Juri yelled.

BBBBBAAAAANNNNNNNGGGGG!

"Need help?" asked a familiar voice. She sighed.

"Takato. Thank you all that is holy."

"Let me guess, your locker?" he asked.

"You know it. So, where is everybody?" Juri noticed that everyone was gone.

"Well, Kazu scored detention. Jen went to go pick up Shuichon. You saw Ruki leave."

"Where's Kenta?" she asked, curious as to why Takato left him out.

"You'll never believe this. Kenta has a girlfriend!" Juri's eyes widened.

"He never even told us! Who is it?" she asked anxiously.

"Jazelle, captain of the cheerleading squad."

Juri was now in a state of shock. Jazelle was one of those girls that got the title of untouchable. Hell, she was a senior! Juri recalled overhearing Jazelle once in the bathroom, she was talking about some real sweet boy she was going out with. When Juri crossed that criteria with Kenta, there was no match. Just goes to show that Kenta is more than a Kazu wannabe.

"Wow. Go Kenta."

"I know, seriously. So Juri, where are you headin?" she thought for a moment.

"I dunno. I'm not due home 'til 6:00." Takato started blushing.

"Well, you could come with me. I have to go bake some bread." Juri smiled.

"I'd love to."

The two of them went to Matsuda family bakery. After saying hello to the family the two of them got to work on baking the bread.

"Okay, this batch has already risen. So we just need to bake it."

The two of them got to work on shaping the dough. Takato made some Guilmon Bread while Juri made a few loaves shaped like Calumon and Leomon.

"Okay, I'll go put this in the oven. Juri, can you take the register for a sec?"

"Sure." Juri went to the register.

Since Juri was more of a common visitor, than she realized, she was able to handle the register with ease. A few of the customers noted that she and Takato looked cute together. The blushing Juri would tell them that they weren't a couple.

"Hello girl. Can I get that loaf right there?" the old lady pointed to a loaf.

"Sure, hang on a moment." Juri retrieved the loaf. 

"You know. You and the baker's son look really cute together." Juri blushed.

"Sorry, maam. But we're not together." Takato walked up.

"Ok, the batch'll be ready in about 10 mintes." Juri nodded, blushing.

"Remember what I said, girl. Thank you for the bread." The old lady left.

"What'd she say?"

"Oh nothing." Juri said, still blushing.

Juri then went to the back for a moment. She smiled and was about to go back to the register when her cell started ringing. She answered the phone, it was her dad. He said that she had to get home because the family was going somewhere that night. She hung up and Takato came and took out the bread.

"Hey, Juri. Who was that?" he asked.

"My dad, he says I have to come home because the family's going out." Takato nodded.

"Ok. Here, take this with you then." He handed her a bag, she could smell the bread.

"Thanks. See ya tomorrow Takato!" Juri hugged him and left.

As she was walking away from the bakery she was starting to get hungry. Then she remembered the bread Takato gave her, she opened the bag and was surprised to find the bread contorted into words. She read it aloud.

"Will… You… Be… My… Girl- GIRLFRIEND!" Juri squeeled.

She ran back to the bakery as quick as she could. She snuck around back and found Takato washing his hands. She smiled as she looked at him.

"Boo." She said.

"Juri! What are you doing here?" he asked.

She didn't bother replying. She just waltzed on up to him and kissed him on the spot. The old lady from before came back, claiming she left her glasses there. When she saw the two she whistled. The two broke apart, Takato still in a daze.

"Takato, my answer is yes." Juri said. She left again.

Juri smiled as she remembered the memory. It was something she didn't plan to be forgetting anytime soon. She then remembered what she was planning to do, she called up Ruki.

"Who is it and what do you want." Ruki answered the phone, apparantly.

"Juri and to talk to you." Juri replied.

"Oh, hey Juri. Shouldn't you be out with gogglehead?" she asked.

"I just came in the door. But, anyways, I wanted to ask you something."

"What?" Ruki was curious.

"Did you-- No hang on! Did you know that Kenta's going out with Jazelle?"

"SAY WHAT!"

Ruki thought for a moment. Jazelle, she's the captain of the cheerleading squad. How the hell did Kenta manage to get her? Oh well. Ruki shivered as she remembered Jazelle…

It was the first week of school and Ruki already hated it. It was enough that she was one of the most popular people in the school. But, did Juri really have to bring her to this?

"C'mon Ruki! Everyone else was busy." Juri pleaded.

"No way, this is evil!" Ruki responded.

Juri wanted to try out for the cheerleading squad. Ruki was there to be moral support, but Ruki had an incling suspicion that it wouldn't be seen that way.

"Like wow! Ruki, are you trying out for the squad?!?" Jazelle yelled.

Ruki looked at Jazelle. From day 1 of this high school experience Jazelle was determined to make Ruki her best friend. 

"No. My buddy Juri is, though." She pointed to Juri.

"Hi." Juri said shyly.

"Oh... hello. So, Ruki! You know if you wanted to I can always reserve a uniform for you, you're totally like squad material!" Ruki rolled her eyes.

"No, it's ok. Thank you Jazelle." Jazelle bounced off.

"Juri, what was with the shy bit?" Juri blushed.

"Well, for starters, she's probably the only girl that's more popular than you. That's a maybe though. Second, she's captain of the cheerleading squad. Third, she's a senior. With those three things combined you'd see why she intimidates me. Not everyone can be a celebrity, you know." Juri smirked.

"Shut up." Ruki grumbled.

Jazelle and Kenta. Who would've thought? Oh well, Ruki thought, just as long as she doesn't cheat on him. As annoying as Kenta was, he was still her friend.

"Wow. I never would've thought." Ruki said despondently.

"Me neither." Juri replied.

"Hey, Juri. What were you going to say before you mentioned Kenta and Jazelle?"

"Oh, um. Ruki, for that poster thing. Did you choose the outfit?" Juri asked.

Ruki looked at the phone. What did that have to do with anyhting, Ruki wondered. Oh well, she asked a question. It would be the polite thing to do, to answer her, that is.

"Yeah, I guess. Trevor had chosen a few outfits for me, and I got the final word."

"I see." Juri nodded thoughtfully.

"What are you getting at?" Ruki deadpanned.

"It's just that the outfit reminds me of someone else's." Juri hinted.

"I don't think so, it was unique. Why? Who do you think it looked like?" Ruki sounded pretty serious.

"How about Ryo Akiyama?" Ruki's eyes widened.

"You're smoking."

"What's wrong with that? Ryo was nice." Juri said.

"Yeah yeah. It's just that Jenrya has been bugging me about him. I'm sick of hearing about Ryo, ya know?" 

"I understand. So Ruki, do you think he'll ever come back?" 

"No, Juri. No I don't." Ruki actually sounded sad as she said that.

"I dunno, Ruki. He has a knack to appear when no one's expecting it."

"Yeah. But I'm just sick of worrying about it. Hey, Juri, I gotta go. See ya tomorrow."

Ruki didn't even wait for a response. She hung up. Juri looked at the phone for a moment. Oh Ruki, why can't you just admit it. You want him to return. We all do, Juri thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sir, with all due respect, can I please be excused from school for the rest of the week?" 

Ruki was sitting in the principal's office. She had been sent there because the teacher claimed that she was "talking to much." Ruki didn't even get a chance to explain her side of the story.

"Ms. Makino, now why would I let you do that?" the principal asked.

"Simple. It's Tuesday today, so I'd only miss 3 days of school. We both know I don't have to worry about my GPA, I'd just make up the missing work."

"How about this Ms. Makino, no." Ruki glared at him.

Why was this principal being such a jackass? Ruki did the calculations in her head… yup, if she missed 3 days of school she wouldn't be in danger of failing. 

"I'll just skip them then."

Ruki was not in a good mood. She had been photographed from the moment she walked out of her front door. She had been harrassed from the moment she walked into the school. To top things off, her mother's boyfriend, _Fabio_, was attempting to get Rumiko to get Ruki modeling. 

Ruki couldn't take it anymore. With all the frustrations in her life, ranging from Fabio to the tournament, Ruki was currently unstable. She was also pissed off at the principal… to make a long story short… Ruki left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"YOUNG LADY! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!" 

Ruki winced. She had just gotten in the door when her mom spotted her and verbally attacked. If Ruki remembered right, her grandmother should be getting home soon enough… thank goodness.

"YOU DO NOT WALK OUT AT SCHOOL! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH OF A FOOL THAT MAKES ME LOOK? PEOPLE PROBABLY SEE YOU AND SAY 'OH LOOK AT HER, HER MOTHER MUST NOT HAVE BROUGHTEN HER UP RIGHT.' IT MAKES ME LOOK LIKE A BAD PARENT!"

"Mom, you don't get it. It's only three days." Ruki replied.

"THREE DAYS! Oh no! No daughter of mine is skipping school for three days!"

"Well, I am." Rumiko got even more mad.

"WELL, WHY DON'T YOU JUST-" Rumiko started.

"That. Is. Enough." 

Rumiko and Ruki looked to the source, sure enough, Seiko had returned.

"Ruki, to your room. Rumiko, get dinner started." She commanded.

Ruki, knowing that her grandmother had a temper to be reckoned with, went to her room without protest. She knew that she'd soon be able to get it all off her chest anyway. She sat on her bed and waited for her grandmother to arrive.

"Ruki, dear. May I come in?" Ruki smiled.

"Come on in, Grandma." She came in.

"Ruki, what's really troubling you?" Ruki sighed.

"Well, the Digimon Card Tournament's next Wednesday. I'll admit it, I'm nervous. But since I happen to be the Digimon Queen there's all these media people focusing in on me, I can't get a moment to myself. Between here and school I'm always on someone's radar. I asked the principal if I could be excused for the next three days, due to the attention, but that idea got shot to hell. I got pissed and left, then Mom goes off on me the moment I walk in the door!"

"Well, Ruki. I believe that, with your grades, you would be perfectly capable of missing a few days of school. My advice to you is to attempt to clear your mind. Jenrya meditates, maybe he could help?"

"Thanks Grandma." Ruki said out of gratitude.

"Anytime. Remember, I'll always be here for you." The two of them then hugged.

A few hours later (after class) Ruki was feeling better. She was still mad at her mother, but would apologize for her grandma's sake. She got out of her room… but as she was walking to the living room she heard voices. Particularly, her grandmother and mother's.

"Mom, I don't know what to do with her. Should I put her up for adoption?"

"No, Rumiko. You should let her grow up on her own."

"But she's so out of it! She doesn't even want to model!"

"Rumiko, you should try accepting her."

"Never Mother. That girl needs to get her act together, she's a disgrace to my name."

"Whatever Rumiko, I give up."

Ruki ran back to her room with tears in her eyes. So her mother thought she was a disgrace. No wonder she always tries to get me into girly clothes, Ruki thought. I just need some time to think. So she sealed her door and went out the window, hoping no one would bother to check her room.

Once she was outside and a considerable distance away from her house Ruki sighed. Then she burst into tears. I knew it, she thought, Grandma really **is **theonly one who loves me. The thought made Ruki cry even more. Before she even knew it she was back at the park. As Ruki looked around she noticed that she was at _the spot_. She sighed again.

11 year old Ruki looked around her. She was walking around the park out of boredom. Everyone was busy that day so she just started wandering around the city. Eventually, her escapades had led her here.

"Heya Pumpkin!" Ruki looked behind her.

"Fuck off Akiyama." He just smiled.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Nowhere with you. Now leave!" she yelled.

Ryo just smiled again and looked at her. Ruki grew agitated with him and growled. He still kept smiling. She grumbled a "hurry up" and then they continued walking.

"So Ruki, do you know the date?" Ryo asked.

"February 14." She answered sharply.

"Do you know what that means?" he asked.

"Do I look like I care?" Ryo ignored her and went on.

"In the USA, February 14 is when they celebrate their version of White Day."

"So what?" Ruki snapped.

Ruki knew all about White Day. She hated it. Her mother would bring over 10 guys and wind up sleeping with most of them, how trasy can one get, Ruki wondered.

"Well. The girl's supposed to give the guy a gift. So… where's my gift?" Ruki looked horrified.

"Why the hell would I get you a gift, Akiyama! I hate you, remember?" He smiled again.

"Ok then. I'll go by western traditions instead. Here's my gift to you, Ruki."

He bent over and kissed her full on the lips. Poor Ruki was too shocked to kick him in his manhood. After all, it was her first kiss. By the time Ruki had gotten a grip with reality Ryo was smiling at her again.

"Happy Valentines Day, Ruki." He walked off.

Ruki looked around her. Yup, this definately was the same place. She had told nobody about the kiss, not even (bum bum bum) Jenrya. Ruki smiled fondly at the memory, it was one of the last times she would ever see him. About 2-3 days after the kiss he disappeared.

"Ruki?" she was brought back to the present.

"Takato? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I could ask the same thing to you." He parried.

"Touché. Well, I'm just getting some air." She said. He sighed.

"Ruki, look. I know that you think I'm kind of loud and obnixious. But I'm always here for my friends, you included. Just remember that." He said seriously. She blinked at him.

"Thanks Takato. Well, here we go. It's nothing serious, it's just that the papparazzi's a bitch. School's a bitch. My mother is a bitch as well. I overheard her and Grandma talking, she wants to put me up for adoption. She also didn't fail to mention how much of a disgrace I am." Thinking of it made Ruki get teary again.

"Whoa whoa! Don't start crying now!"

Takato didn't know what to do. He had never seen Ruki as emotional as she was now. It made him smile as he figured out why this was wrong, yet right at the same time. Ruki was usually calm and collected. Seeing her like this made Takato notice that she was actually a normal person.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be burdening you like this." Ruki started.

"No, no. Just let it out, ok?" He hugged her while she cried. Eventually Ruki got a grip on herself.

"Thanks Takato. I think I needed that." She smiled.

"Sure, happy to be of service maam." Ruki suddenly glared at him.

"Takato, if anyone EVER hears about this you will enter a world of pain." he gulped.

"Sure, Ruki. This'll stay a secret." She smiled again. 

The two said goodbye and split ways. Ruki snuck back into her room with a smile on her face. It was nice to know that she had friends that genuinely cared about her. Her smile lasted up until she looked at her bed, looming at her. Her face changed to one of sadness as she layed down to sleep. She fell asleep, and, as she predicted, she dreamt of the past. Of a time when friendship was all that mattered…


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Vacation! Vacation! Boy, do I love vacation! Anyways, to celebrate my 'ever so happy' mood. I decided to type some more. Not much you can do when you're grounded, as I have come to learn over the years. Heh.

Special thanks to Tamer of Darkness, thanks for being honest. But, ehehehehe, I didn't mean to imply any Rukato. By their little scenes I just meant to show that they really are better friends then the show perceived them to be. But of course, I only got to see the chopped up dub, so I can't say much there. I'm a Takato-Juri fan all the way! Oh, and I'm sorry if this story seems to be moving slower than it should. I'll be starting the tournament soon enough, so just stick with me ok? Pretty please!

Don't worry peoples! I'm 100% Ryuki lover! So just remember… patience is a virtue.

Disclaimer - toot - remialcsiD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hypnos. As Ruki looked at the building she just couldn't see how that place could hold so many secrets. Yamaki had never sold the place, so it looked the same as it did 4 years ago. Nothing was ever added, but at the same time, nothing was ever removed.

"NOOO!" Ruki woke up in a cold sweat.

As she analyzed her surroundings she realized that she was still in her bed. Her clock read 10:02. After she got her brain working she remembered that she wasn't going to school today.

"Now what to do?" she wondered.

When she heard no answer she turned on the television. As if the heavens had heard her, an answer came to her… straight from the TV.

"Hey kids! Do you like the Internet? Try new JOL version 4.20!" Ruki sighed.

"And now we're back with Harry the Hypnotist…"

Ruki sighed again. JOL, hypnotists, whatever. HANG ON! She started thinking, JOL… hypnotists… DUH! HYPNOS! Ruki quickly got herself ready and headed out to Hypnos.

As Ruki went into the building she got an eerie chill. It was as if she wasn't alone. Ruki brushed it off and kept walking around, eventually she found herself at the top floor. Much to her surprise, she found that the door was open (you're supposed to have a card to get in), so she went inside. Oddly enough, she found herself drawn to the computers.

"Huh? What's this?" Ruki picked up the object.

Behind one of the computers Ruki had found a small flat object. As she turned it over she noticed that it was a picture! But, the odd thing was that it was a picture of none other than Ryo Akiyama. He was apparently hugging some weird looking old guy.

"Okay. Now how the hell did this get here?" she wondered aloud.

Unbeknowst to her, she had started walking in some random direction while analyzing the picture. It wasn't until she bumped into a big pile of boxes that she noticed that she had moved at all. 

"Ween-Dows-98?" Ruki read the writing on the box (remember, she's Japanese.)

By the time Ruki had figured out what was in the boxes it was too late. Every single box in the tower came crashing down. Ruki screamed as she yelled out the first name that came to her mind.

"RYO!!!!" 

She felt someone's arms encircle her waist. Before she had a chance to look at her savior the two of them fell to the ground... missing death by a mere three inches.

"Ruki, what are you doing here?" she looked at her savior.

"FELIX! I could ask you the same thing." She shot back.

"Well, I came to get those."

He pointed to the 17 computers that were now smashed on the floor. Ruki winced as she thought of what would have happened to her if Felix hadn't been there.

"Oh… oh yeah! Thanks!" he looked surprised.

"Yeah, anytime. So…" he cut himself off.

They didn't know what to say. Without words it was already known that Ruki would be going back to Japan Online with him. She was bored and he knew it. So, when push comes to shove, you follow your friends.

"Well, we'll definitely have to come up with a cover story for that." He pointed to the computers.

"Eheh. Yeah. Sorry about that." Ruki said sheepishly.

"Ah, don't worry about it." He shrugged it off.

The two of them went to the Yamaki Limo, it was parked outside. Ruki sat down beside Felix and the two shared a comfortable silence. But… even comfortable silences get annoying with time.

"So Felix, where are you from?" she asked. He looked away.

"I don't like going into my past." She shrugged.

"Understandable. My past sucks as well." He nodded in understanding.

The rest of the trip consisted of them talking about things as random as the weather. Back at JOL the duo was met with a smirking Alice and a pissed off Yamaki.

"Felix. What the fuck took you so long." Yamaki nodded his hello to Ruki. She nodded back.

"Well, I met up with Ruki on the streets and…" Felix started.

"We went inside to get the computers, but they were all sprawled on the floor." She supplied.

Alice barely contained her laughter. To her it was obvious that the two were lying. But then again, she was just good at figuring these things out. Felix and Ruki are the two most impassive people she knew. So the two of them finishing each other's sentences just sorta seems odd.

"Yeah. I can go get the remains if you want them." Yamaki just glared.

"No. I don't want them." He gritted through his teeth.

Ruki started to panic. It was apparent that Yamaki was definitely not buying their story, so she did the only thing she could think of. She attempted to get his pity… using her inner businesswoman.

"Yamaki! I'm sorry, it was my fault! You see, I knocked them over!" Ruki burst out. Yamaki raised an eyebrow. Alice coughed. Felix gave her a wistful gaze.

"But… my mother has the money to buy as many computers that you need. All you have to do is act nice to her for about 5 minutes." He gazed at her skeptically.

"Well, put it this way. My mother will split her legs for anything with two legs and a penis."

The outside of JOL was silent. Felix and Ruki awaited their fate. Yamaki stood still, as if he were having a conversation within himself. About 5 minutes later Yamaki left to find Ruki's mother, while the remaining people went to go tell Reika and Ryu where Yamaki was going.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"HE'S ON BREAK!!!!" Ruki yelled.

After getting to the top floor of the building Ruki ran right into the center of the room. Hell, she wanted to see Ryu. But of course, the world got in the last laugh as she was soon informed that Ryu was on his lunch break. 

"Yup, I'm afraid so." Reika replied. 

"ARG… oh well, I guess I can wait around for an hour." Reika nodded.

"Sure, go ahead. Alice, Felix, the platforms have to be finished by today, all you really have to do is add the functions and remember, multiply the speed by the force to get the calculations of the conclusions of the matches."

"Yeah yeah, that'll be a piece of cake."

Ruki's head was spinning. Speed, force, calculations, conclusions? Whatever, Ruki thought. She went over to the computers and looked at one of the screens, 2(x)g[10(x)(f+s)]=LOSS is what she saw.

"It means that, depending on which floor we're on, the loser of the match will fall at twice that speed level. The stuff inside the brackets mean that the force and speed must be higher than 10 times the level." Alice told her.

"Oh, I get it… sorta." Ruki blinked. Alice smirked. She brought Ruki to the computer she was at with Felix.

"Now this data--" she pointed to the screen.

Ruki looked at this screen and almost got dizzy. This entire screen had line after line of numbers and letters, to Ruki it looked as if someone was just pushing the buttons. But, as she looked at Felix, who was typing away, she realized that every letter had its own meaning.

"--is just the base. The stuff you were looking at were the details on the loser's side. This data here just gives a basic description on what happens when a match is over. The winner _moves up_, and the loser _drops out_." She smirked.

Ruki nodded and watched them type in computer language. There were still many more things she was curious about, but hell, the tournament was only in a week… she could wait.

"Hey, how many people are signed up?" Ruki suddenly asked.

"About 1200. But of course there's still a week left to sign up." Reika answered.

The hours passed by and Ryu never showed up. Yamaki eventually came back, a receipt for 20 computers clutched in his hand, with a smirk on his face. He said that Ryu was at the mechanic's place, the car he was driving got hit on the main freeway. Yamaki had told him to just take the rest of the day off.

"You did what!" Ruki yelled. Yamaki sighed.

"I told him to go home." Ruki gritted her teeth.

"ARG!" she raised her hands in defeat.

Looking at her watch she saw that the time was 1:14. She had about 2 hours and 45 minutes to wander around. She had a few stops she wanted to make so she said her goodbyes and left.

"Hey, I sorta gotta get home so, yeah." Ruki sighed.

"Bye Ruki! Don't forget, Friday!" Alice reminded her.

Ruki nodded, smiled, and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"C'mon Ruki 1-2-3-4!" Shannon yelled.

Okay, Ruki thought, twist, turn, move my leg up. Do a 180… and flip! 

"OUCH! Riley, what's up!" Ruki exclaimed as she was dropped flat on her ass.

"Huh? Oh sorry Ruki." Riley scratched the back of his head. Before Ruki had a chance to yell at him some more Trevor butted in.

"Hey Ruki explain this to me, if a High Rookie Agumon battles a Low Rookie Veemon how could the Agumon lose?"

Ruki gave him a quizzical look. It wasn't that she didn't understand what he was saying, it was just that she didn't know that Trevor even PLAYED the Digimon Card Game. 

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Riley beat me today, even though my Agumon was so much stronger." 

Ruki looked at the clock, 7:53. If there was only 7 minutes left of class Ruki didn't see why it couldn't be wasted on digimon. She looked to Shannon for approval, she shrugged her shoulders. Ruki smiled and looked back at Trevor.

"Well did you have any accentuations added?" Ruki asked him. He nodded.

"Yeah, I put on extra strength while Riley put on extra speed." Ruki shook her head.

"Trevor, how long have you been playing?"

"Oh, that was my first match. Eheh." Ruki nodded.

To her it was obvious where he went wrong. To any experienced card player it was obvious where he went wrong. But… how could she break it to him without hurting his 'oh so precious' ego?

"Well, let's say that two guys were fighting. One had a bigger build and was really strong; the only problem was that he was really slow. The guy he was fighting wasn't as strong, but pretty strong none the less. If this guy is fast enough to dodge the first guy's punches he wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt, all he'd have to worry about would be when to strike at the right moment. Am I making sense?"

"Yeah, so you're saying that strength isn't everything." She nodded.

"EXACTLY!" he looked at her for a moment.

"Hey, Ruki. Battle me." she blinked.

"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively.

It wasn't that Ruki didn't want to battle him, it was just that she was worried about what would happen when he lost. She didn't want to be forced into extra drills for no apparent reason.

"Sure, let's have some fun!" Ruki sighed.

"As you wish."

The two cleared some space on the floor and started the "battle." It lasted about 20 seconds. Trevor gaped as she layed down her final card. Riley and Shannon nodded their heads in respect as they watched their egotistical friend get his ass kicked by someone 2 years younger than him.

"WHAT! I had the whole speed part down kaput!" Trevor blurted.

"Ah, but there's one thing you're missing. Experience." Ruki said wisely.

"Well put." Grandmother joined them. Ruki smiled at her.

"Hey Grandma/Mrs. Makino." They greeted.

"Will you three be staying for dinner?" she asked.

The trio thought it over. It took them no more than 2 seconds to reach a decision.

"YUP!" they replied.

The trio rushed to the kitchen like there was no tomorrow. The food they were fed here were a good 10x better than the stuff they get in their apartment. Shannon may be a great dancer, but she definitely was not a great cook.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Ruki woke up the next morning she had a plan ready. Last night she was talking to Takato on the phone. He said that his parents had to go to a bakers' convention on the other side of town. He would be at the bakery taking care of everything on his own, she had offered to help him out.

"Takato, are you serious?" she asked

"Yup, my parents are out tomorrow. A simple way to get out of school." He replied.

"Hey… do ya need any help?" she inquired.

"Really? Thanks!" Takato said gratefully.

"What time should I come in?" she asked.

"Oh, around 10:00." 

Ruki looked at her clock as she was getting up. It read 9:52. Ruki gasped and started a string of swear words as she got ready. By the time she left the clock read 9:59.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"WHEW! I think I made it." Ruki sighed as she went into the bakery.

"Running late, I see." Came a sudden voice. Startled, Ruki turned around.

"JENRYA! What're you doing here?" she asked.

Jenrya looked away shrugging his shoulders, it was still a mystery to him as to why his mom agreed.

"Hey Mom, Ruki's getting to miss school for this week… can I as well?" Jenrya asked.

"Hmmmm… no." she replied.

"But Mom! I gotta… um… practice!" he tried.

"For what?" she asked.

As Jenrya goes on about the Digimon Card Tournament Shuichon comes out. As Jenrya's rant comes to a close Mother's phone rings, she holds up a finger to Jenrya while she takes the call.

"Jenrya, have your day. I can't afford to have anything on my mind." Jenrya whooped.

"Hey, what about me?" Suzi asked.

"Yeah, sure Shuichon. Have fun." She said detachedly.

Suddenly Shuichon comes back from around the back. She has on an apron and a few flour stains on her face. She immediately brightens up when she sees Ruki.

"Hey Ruki!" she said.

"Suzi, how's it goin?"

"Fine… hey Ruki?" Shuichon started.

"Yeah?"

"Can you teach me how to play the Digimon Card Game?" Ruki looked at her, startled.

It was odd. Ruki would have thought that Jenrya would have at least taught her the basics. After all, Shuichon is a genuine Digimon Tamer.

"Yeah, sure; I guess." The two of them brought out their decks.

Wow, thought Ruki, for someone that's just learning how to play; she sure has one hell of a deck.

"Ok, first there's the attack cards…"

Takato groggily walked into the room, what he saw surprised him to hell's end. Ruki and Suzi were playing with cards, Jenrya was helping himself to a cup of coffee (let's just say that the bakery has coffee, okie dokie!), and there was bread in the oven. Takato blinked as he suddenly wondered how the hell everyone got in.

"Uh, hey guys." Takato said sheepishly.

"Takato!" they yelled simultaneously. 

"Me!" he yelled back. The quartette cracked up.

About 20 minutes later the bread was baked, the next batch was in the oven, and the bakery was ready for business. The only thing left to do was assign roles.

"Ok guys, you three have to decide who does what." Takato said.

"What about you?" Ruki asked. Takato chuckled.

"I have to clean the house." He said.

Ruki nodded her head in both sympathy and understanding. Takato's room itself was bad enough, but the entire house would just be terrible for the poor guy. Luckily enough, the house was really the top floor of the bakery… so he didn't have _too_ much to clean. 

"So, are we gonna draw straws or something?" Shuichon asked. Jenrya and Ruki shrugged in response.

They made out the straws and drawed. In the end Ruki wound up getting the register, Shuichon got dishes, and Jenrya got sweeping duty. As the trio got to work a familiar face showed up. As she strolled in she noticed the lack of usual workers.

"Hey, where's the baker's son?" she asked. Ruki looked at her.

"HEY! You're that fortune teller lady from the mall!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, hello Ruki. Nice to see you again." She bowed politely.

As Ruki got the lady's bread she couldn't help but notice that she seemed to be looking for something. She had no time to ponder this as she was suddenly bombarded with questions.

"Hey, you're friends with the baker's son, correct?" Ruki blinked.

"Yeah, why?" Ruki asked. The fortune teller blushed.

"Well, you see, I sorta did some matchmaking." Ruki gasped.

"You're the kind old lady Juri was telling me about!"

"Well, yes. I guess that would be me." she smiled.

Jenrya finished sweeping. He looked over to the counter and saw Ruki chatting it up with some old lady. He sighed for no apparent reason; even before he turned around he heard "You done Jen?" escape Ruki's mouth. He nodded in response and walked back to the counter.

"So, what do I do now?" he asked. Ruki shrugged.

"I dunno, go ask Takato." He left. The old lady watched his retreating figure.

"That boy--" she started. Ruki cut her off.

"Sorry, but I don't have any--" this time Ruki got cut off.

"It's on the house." Ruki smiled.

Jenrya came back and said Takato said that he should just help her at the register. Ruki told him to wait a minute; she'd be gone for a moment. Jenrya nodded as the two ladies stepped outside.

"So…" Ruki broke the silence.

"That boy, I feel that you two are close. Closer than just friends, but not as the world perceives. Something in your future tells of him. But this is only one possible path you could take. In your near future you will be faced with a choice, there are two choices for you, both with endless possibilities. If you take the path that I'm now speaking of I assure you… you and that boy will be changed forever. If, you choose this path, you will be faced with yet another choice. This one will involve life and death…"

There was an eerie silence. Then the lady was standing there with that smile on her face.

"Well, Ruki. I'll be seeing you around, bye bye!" The old lady waved, and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Ruki layed down to sleep (I sorta skipped ahead, so yeah) she was suddenly jerked awake by the ringing of her phone. She mumbled a "fuck" before she lifted the receiver to her ears.

"What?" she said grumpilly.

"Hello!" corused two voices.

"Alice? Felix? Why the fuck are you calling me this late?" she asked.

"We just got off work."

"So, what do ya want?" Ruki demanded.

She could literally hear the shrugs that emitted from the duo. Ruki rolled her eyes.

"It's nothin' major, we're just reminding you about tomorrow." Alice said.

"Tomorrow, the skating rink right?" Ruki clarified.

"Yup! You don't have plans, right?" Alice asked menacingly. Ruki remained silent.

"Or do you?" Felix asked curiously. Ruki smirked.

"Don't worry, it's nothing I can't get out of." 

Ruki heard the two shrug again. She smiled, the more she thought about it, the more she liked it. The idea of her and Felix being together brought a smile to her face. She didn't know why, but she just felt that the two of them belonged together. The way she felt with him… she had never experienced it before, not even with Ryo.

But then again there was the other side of her brain that wanted her to wait around for Ryo to return. Whenever she'd think of "the feeling" this side of her brain argued that: if she honestly thought it was love, she wouldn't have felt it with Ryo due to her age. Shit, at 11 she wouldn't've known what love was… even if it was staring her in the face.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Hi people! Oh yeah, Merry Christmas!!!! Yup, I hope everyone's having a fun holiday season. I, for one, am very happy to be out of school. But tch, I'm not a big fan of the whole blowin my money away thing. I'm poor! Hahaha, but yeah, the money always comes back to me, big family… you get the gist.

Faithful readers, I have a gift for you. Believe it or not, this is the last chapter of Felix. A few of you (trying to search for a microscope) might actually miss him. But to the giant lot of you who wanna kill him… Merry Christmas! He's all yours!!! Just read 'til the end of the chapter first. And please don't flame! 

Disclaimer – Hohoho, kiss my ass.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"OH SHIIIIIIIT!" Ruki screamed.

"Hang on stupid!" Felix yelled.

Alice laughed at the duo. Unbeknowst to her and Felix, this was Ruki's first time skating… ever. But that had been figured out quickly enough due to the fact that Ruki fell flat on her ass the moment she first went onto the floor. Felix was currently trying to teach her how to skate, but it was ending in failure because Ruki kept falling.

"Ok, now watch me. Push off of one leg, put that leg down, then you should start rolling."

"I've tried that already." Ruki said impatiently.

"Well then… just try again!" he replied.

So try again Ruki did. She made her leg push, mistake one. She put to much "thrust" into the push. Then, due to the laws of gravity, she lost her balance, mistake two. As she fell she closed her eyes, waiting for the impact. It never came. As she opened her eyes she was shocked to find floor inches from her face. 

"Ehehehehe." Was all she could muster.

"BWAHAHAHA!" Was all Alice could muster.

"Uh… you're welcome." Was all Felix could muster.

Alice eventually skated up to the, still shocked, duo. She was still laughing as Ruki got up. Ruki glared and tried to swing at her, and missed. Yet again, Ruki fell flat on her ass. 

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, do we want pizza, hotdogs, or popcorn?" Dead silence.

"Are any of us hungry?" Dead silence.

"IF YOU'RE NOT ORDERING THEN MOVE!" The line yelled.

"Sorry!" The trio responded.

They eventually left the line and went back to the rink. By now both Alice and Felix were helping Ruki skate. Ruki grumbled as she got up again. She just didn't get it, it seemed so simple. But if that was the case then WHY THE HELL COULDN'T SHE STAY UPRIGHT?!?!? 

"This is annoying." Ruki stated.

"You only say that cuz you can't skate worth shit." Alice replied.

"That was retorical." Ruki replied back.

The trio started skating again, throughout the night Ruki eventually got to the point where she could skate on her own… with assistance from the wall. True, it wasn't much improvement; but, nonetheless, it was improvement.

__

"OKAY FOLKS! It's time to slow it down, COUPLES ONLY!"

"C'mon Ruki. Let's skate." Felix held out his hand.

"Yeah, sure." He helped her up.

Alice smiled as she wathched the two skate off, Ruki leaning on Felix for support. Her smile turned sour as the idiotic DJ put some sappy ass song on. Sure, it was a couples skate, but the song blew it.

Ruki sighed in contentment as the two of them skated onto the rink. Then the music started, she frowned as she compared it to a song she heard at a wedding once. All the song was about was love staring you in the face without the person realizing it 'til it was too late. Bah, she thought, how idiotic.

"Hiya handsome, how about you come skate with me?" some girl said. Ruki glared at her.

"Do I know you?" Felix asked her in return.

"No, but I have a feeling that we'll become _great_ friends." She licked her lips.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested." He said icily.

"Oh poo. Are you sure." She tried twiggling her eyebrows.

"Yeah, now leave me alone." He said.

As Ruki and Felix skated away he slipped an arm around her shoulder; much to Ruki's pleasure, and the girl's dismay. He smirked as he felt her tense up.

"Don't worry. It's only me." Ruki smiled and calmed down.

"Hey Felix. How was your childhood?" Ruki asked as she realized that still she knew nothing of his past.

"Well, what do you want to know?" he asked.

"I dunno, where did you come from?" she asked. He remained silent for a moment.

"Japan."

Before Ruki had a chance to ask him anything else, the DJ's voice came over the speaker again. The song was over.

"Okay! Couples are OVER! Now for the trios!"

The duo on the rink looked over at Alice, obviously she was supposed to be their third member. But, she was talking to, none other than, Kazu, Kenta, and JAZELLE! Ruki gacked as she saw the senior, she was literally hanging onto Kenta for support.

"Felix, skate away. Quickly." Ruki said suddenly.

"Why?" he asked.

"Just do it, I'll tell you later." He shrugged and skated to a bench.

As the two started taking off their skates Jazelle started looking their way. Ruki quickly hid under the nearest thing, which happened to be Felix's arm. She blushed as she realized what she grabbed and quickly went back to unbuckling her skates. As she got them off Felix just asked a random question, a random question indeed.

"Hey, Ruki. Are you waiting for someone?" he asked.

"No, you guys are giving me a ride back, remember?" she gave him a quizzical look.

"No, not like that." He sighed.

Ruki gasped as she realized what he meant. Was she waiting for someone, as in was she waiting for a certain guy? Ruki didn't know what to say, she was… but at the same time, she wasn't. She quickly made up her mind.

"I was, he's not coming back, though." She shrugged.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it, I don't care about him anymore--" she paused.

"--it's been far too long."

Unbeknowst to her, a tear started making a way down her face. She didn't notice it until it was wiped off her face. She looked up in surprise as she noticed that Felix had his thumb on her cheek. Even thought she couldn't see his eyes she could just imagine the look he was giving her. She glared at him.

"I don't need your pity." He scoffed.

"I wasn't giving it." She smiled.

This is it, she thought. As he bent his head down she felt herself doing the same. Their lips met and, much to both of their surprise, it just felt right. There was no way to explain it, the fireworks went off. Going with the moment, she ran her hands through his hair. But then, as quickly as it happened, Felix abruptly ended the kiss.

"Ruki. No- I can't." he stuttered.

"Why?" she asked, not even bothering to hide her pain.

"I just… can't. I'm so sorry." He apologized.

He quickly got up and ran to the entrance. His shades fell off along the way, but he didn't care. He just left. Before leaving, he gave one last fleeting look to Ruki. She blinked in surprise. So, she thought, his eye color… is blue.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: Hi there peoples! Yeah, vacation's been pretty slow for me, yawn. But of course here I am, my dad has me doing 'a task' for him. Blah, I say. But of course, here I am doing his task (burning him a cd), and I figured… what the hell? Why not update Voyage of Memories while I'm at it?

Special thanks to Kit Kat! Thank you for wishing me a Merry Christmas!!! You're the greatest! Heh, hope ya got tons of good junk (cuz I sure didn't).

Disclaimer – I'm too poor to be worth suing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday and Sunday passed as a blur to Ruki, and before she knew it, it was Monday. As she got up she remembered thinking that she didn't really have to be there. But then again, it was always good to know what you'd be up against. Also… she wanted to see how her pupil fared out.

True, in the days after the skating incident Ruki may've sulked to herself, but she never let her friends catch on. With the exception of Jenrya, of course. Shuichon, Ruki surmised, had a big part in preoccupying her mind. Ruki spent most hours of her free time teaching the younger girl how to play the Digimon Card Game.

"YAWN! Ruki, where are you off to so early?" Rumiko asked.

"The Card Tournament." Ruki replied saucily. Rumiko tensed up.

"Be back before 4:00." She commanded.

"Uh… yeah… sure." Ruki rolled her eyes, took some toast, and left.

Ruki was aware that it was about 6:20 in the morning, she was also aware that the preliminaries wouldn't be starting until 7:00. But, she wound up waking up earlier than expected and just decided to leave early. As she walked down the street she took a look around the area, and smiled. The silence was nice, you could hear the birds singing and the smells of tea just being made. For the moment she let herself believe that the world really was that serene, then she sighed and walked on.

Before she even made up her mind she already knew where her destination would be (does that even make sense? oh well, keep reading!). Over the weekend she had been doing some thinking, if Felix didn't want to be with her romantically, it was ok. But to have a friendship destroyed over something as trivial as a kiss just didn't make sense to her, so here she was walking to Japan Online, praying that everyone would still be there.

"Hello, you have reached JOL, what can I help you with today?" she looked up as the door opened.

"Betty." 

"Ruki."

The two nodded at each other and went back to what they were doing. As odd as it seemed the two of them had some sort of understanding. They both had different beliefs but one thing they had in common, the fact that they did not like being bothered by people that pissed them off. For them, that was all that was required to forge a truce.

"Where's Yamaki?"

"Outside."

"Thanks."

"Yeah, sure."

They gave each other a stare down before Ruki went outside. There she found Yamaki getting into his limousine. He was out of hearing range, so Ruki did the first thing she thought of, _CRASH!_

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!" The driver blinked.

"One of the windows has been broken, sir." The duo looked at Ruki.

"RUKI! What the hell are you doing." He demanded.

"Uh… throwing rocks at your limousine." She said sheepishly. He scowled.

"Whatever, just get in." she smiled and boarded the, now damaged, Yamaki Limo.

As the driver started the engine Yamaki offered Ruki his lighter and a cig, she took it and the two of them took a moment to smoke in peace. Once the moment was over Ruki finally realized that they were alone in the limo. As if he were reading her thoughts, Yamaki suddenly spoke up.

"The others won't be showing up until the finals, I'm only going to the preliminaries out of obligation"

"Oh, I got it." Ruki nodded.

As they pulled into the building, Yamaki said something. Unbeknowst to Ruki at the time, she'd remember this quote for the rest of her life.

"Ruki, I know that you're a celebrity. But, I also know that there are many things you'd like to change in your life. Don't deny it, I went through the same thing. But Ruki, don't make the same mistake I did, don't choose the easy way out. Don't sacrifice your happiness for aristocracy. It's not worth it, it never is."

A moment of silence rested over the limousine.

"Hypnos." Ruki stated simply.

No more words were exchanged. Yamaki just gave her a wan smile and left. This was a moment in time that would never be mentioned again; but, even with this knowledge, Ruki stared to the sky, deep in thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello, competitors. Welcome to the Digimon Card Championships of 2003!"

Ruki gave a fake smile, wondering why she had to be the announcer. If she remembered right Yamaki said "she was better in crowds than he was." It sounded more like he didn't want to go through the hassle of being the announcer himself, so Ruki wound up getting the job. Ugh, she thought, this sucks.

"Well, I guess I'll be summarizing this tounament for you. First off, after counting all the applicants we have reached a total of 2023 competitors! Today's Monday, by Wednesday there will only be 253 of you left. Oh, and if any of you were wondering how we're going to fix the odd number problem… I'll be playing in the prelims. So good luck to you all and have a great time!"

The next 1½ hours consisted of all the competitors drawing numbers, in the end a paper was made telling where and when everyone would be playing. In the end Takato got 73, Jenrya got 1072, Shuichon got 7, and Kazu got 2021; Ruki, of course, got 1. She grumbled as she looked towards the poor schmuck she'd have to take on. 

"RILEY!" Ruki exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey, Ruki. Ya know, I can't exactly read Japanese, what does this board thingy say?"

Ruki shook her head in exasperation as she looked at the "board thingy." It read: 1st match in 3 minutes, Ruki Makino vs. Riley--… the rest wasn't written in yet. Ruki sighed as she looked away from the "board thingy" and looked back to "the schmuck."

"It says that your first battle begins in 3 minutes. Get ready." She advised.

He shrugged and went back to his deck; she sighed as she watched him. Oh well, she thought, this is what he gets for dropping me on my ass. She smiled as she walked to the little table that was being used as the "battle area." Riley showed up at the table a minute or two later and moaned as he saw his opponent.

"OH NO. Do I have to battle RUKI?!" he tried pleading with Yamaki.

"Yes, now shut up and battle." Yamaki replied. Ruki giggled.

"Don't worry, Riley. I'll try not to humiliate you." He glared.

"Now that's an extra 4 laps later." Ruki's eyes widened.

"Fuck." Was all she could muster at the moment.

So Round One began. Within a good 45 seconds Riley was down for the count. He sighed, stuck his tongue at Yamaki, and left. Ruki just walked away as if nothin happened. 

"LIKE, THAT WAS SOOOOO COOL RUKI!" came a familiar squeal. Ruki sighed.

"Hello, Jazelle. What brings you here?" Jazelle smiled.

"I'm here to support my b--!" She started.

"Uh, Jazelle. Kenta isn't here, he won't be playing until Wednesday." Ruki cut in.

Before Jazelle had a chance to reply some guy walked by. He had a really good build, was about 6'2", and had a nice tan. Ruki looked at Jazelle in anger, Jazelle didn't seem to notice as she was now HUGGING the guy!

"I told you I was good at this." The guy bragged.

"Yeah yeah, you did good. Congrats Mario!" She smiled.

"Thanks, but I'm probably going to be cut next round anyway." He said dejectedly.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I'm facing the Digimon Queen, she'll kill me."

"Yeah, she probably will. Nice knowin ya Mario." Jazelle waved and left.

By now Ruki was fuming. How DARE she cheat on one of my friends. As Jazelle bounced back to her Ruki grabbed her arm, rather roughly, and dragged her outside. When they got outside Ruki shoved Jazelle then preceded to slap her.

"RUKI! What the hell are you doing!!!!!" she screamed.

"You shouldn't've played with Kenta's heart." Ruki said icily.

"What? But I--" Ruki cut her off again.

"Oh MARIO! Great job!" she immitated Jazelle's voice.

What happened next shocked the shit out of Ruki. Jazelle broke down laughing, she was outright LAUGHING! Ruki watched as Jazelle sat on the pavement; but, as soon as it started, the laughing stopped. Out of nowhere Jazelle started crying; one could even call it bawling.

"Um, Jazelle, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Ruki asked. 

"You really think I'd do that to Kenta, don't you." Jazelle started drying her tears.

"What do you mean." Ruki stated (no, not asked!).

"Mario's my brother." Ruki gasped.

Oh wow, Ruki thought, don't I feel stupid. But what the hell, it wasn't as if Jazelle wasn't known for cheating on her boyfriends. It was a known fact that she'd go for anything with two legs and a penis.

"Oh, sorry. Um… I didn't slap you too hard did I?" Ruki asked akwardly.

"No, I'm fine... So that's the image I brought upon myself, a two cent slut." 

"No no, I'm just overprotective of my friends." Ruki lied.

"Don't lie to me. I know what people say about me, do you know how many real boyfriends I've really had?" 

Ruki took a moment to think. Hmmm, there was Kouji, Junpei, Tomoki, Kouichi, Takuya… before Ruki had a chance to continue the train of thought Jazelle brought her out of the reverie.

"I've had 6. Only 6, not the 20 people that people randomly pair me up with. You would know what it's like, wouldn't you. Since one's oh so popular they can't be left alone. Oh sorry, I'm burdening you, I guess we should be getting back to the prelims."

Ruki blinked. Jazelle shrugged and brought out some pills, she then preceded to bring out a bottle of water. She took out a few pills and downed them. About 30 seconds later, she shook her head and stood up.

"Like, c'mon Ruki! We have to see everyone, ya know, like battle!" she skipped back into the building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The victor is Shuichon Lee!" Ruki yelled.

After getting back in the building, Ruki and Jazelle had split because an angry Yamaki had stomped over to the pair complaining about having to be announcer. Ruki told him to shut up, took the mic, and went back to the battle; which, coincidentally, happened to be between Shuichon and some guy from her school.

"Oo, you just got whipped by a 11 year old!" Shuichon taunted.

"Oh, you're lucky you're a girl." He shot back. Ruki butt in.

"Hey bud, if ya do so much as lay a hand on her, I will personally kick your ass." 

"Thanks Ruki." Shuichon smiled. The guy started sweating.

"Sure Suz… anyways! Round 4 is about to start! Competitors please come forward!" 

The competitors came forward, but before Ruki could officially start the match Yamaki pulled her aside. She was about to yell at him but he had the 'don't mess with me I'm thinking' look. She snapped her fingers in his face to get his attention. 

"What's up?" she asked.

"We have to use another room." He replied. She didn't understand what the hell he meant.

"Excuse me?" he rolled his eyes.

"The matches are going too slow. You have to take half of the people into another room."

She nodded. What he said made sense. At the rate they were going, they'd only finish half of the matches by the end of the night. So she took the competitors with the number 1012 and up. Yamaki stayed behind to play announcer for the first half of competitors. Jazelle somehow found her way to the front of the mob and went along with Ruki. 

"Match 535. People get out here now." Ruki said into the mic.

Ruki sighed as she looked at the match in boredom. Due to her job as announcer she wasn't aloud to hang out with the rest of the tamers. That fact pissed her off to hell's end. But, as she quickly learned, Jazelle wasn't half bad… when she didn't have any drugs in her system.

About 5 minutes later Ruki sighed again. Apparantly some Canadian girl, Rose, had just beaten some guy that went by the name "Lord Valejo." Val-boy didn't like the fact that he lost to a girl, so he started running around shouting some random things. It wasn't a problem until he charged into the other room and rammed into Yamaki; as retalliation Yamaki wound up calling security on the poor guy.

Ruki cackled as the guy was escorted out of the building. Jazelle, who had decided that it was fun to be announcer, was now announcing the next battle. 

"Ok folks! Round 536 will be Jenrya vs. Henry!" Ruki ran up to the stage.

"Hey Jazelle. Mind if I take this one?" Jazelle shrugged.

As Jenrya walked to the podium he looked at this "Henry" person he was supposed to take on. His eyes widened as he looked at the kid; wow, he thought, if I was only 4 years younger this kid could pass as my clone. As Jenrya gave the kid an 'up and down' he couldn't help but mumble to himself, how the hell could I have worn such an ugly vest (sorry folks, I absolutely **can not** stand that vest!)?

"Ok, as we've already heard, Jenrya will be taking on Henry!" Ruki yelled.

As the match began it became obvious that, even though Henry was younger, this match would be no pushover. The two competitors not only looked alike, by the way the match was going, the two obviously thinked alike. They both had the same strategy, get the defenses up than go in for the kill. Even though Henry had the skill part down squat, Jenrya had been familiar with this strategy far longer than Henry; and, in the end, this is what won him the match.

"WHOO! Good goin Jen! *Ahem* I mean, the winner is Jenrya."

As the two combatants shook hands and walked away Ruki suddenly got a bright idea. She sent an evil smirk in Yamaki's direction; she got an eyebrow lift as a response. She made a hand gesture, he got the message. He quickly gave the mic to Jazelle's brother, Mario. The hand gesture Ruki made could only mean one thing.

"Wanna smoke?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside the two sighed as they exhaled in unison. With all the stress of the tournament, it was always nice to get a moment where you could just let it all out. 

Yamaki looked at the girl beside him and started thinking. Ruki definitely wasn't like most other teenagers he knew (not that he knows very many), she always seemed to be depressed about something. For awhile he figured it was because of Ryo leaving. But then he remembered that, even during the D-Reaper battle, she had been different. But back then she was just angry. It seemed she really had matured from back then. 

But the question still remained. What made her act that way? 

"Hey, Ruki. Why do you smoke?" she looked surprised at his question.

"I don't know. I guess it's a way to release the stress that builds up at home."

She watched him nod as he analyzed her answer. He then held her gaze for a minute or two, as if to see if she was telling the truth. He seemed satisfied with her answer and mumbled an "I see" before going back to his cigarette.

"Is there something else you wanted to ask me?" 

"No, I was just curious. That's all." He replied.

Yamaki went back to his cancer stick, already knowing that he'd regret never asking her about her past.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the two finished their cigarettes they went back inside the building, where Yamaki immediately took back his mic from Mario. Ruki smiled and went back into her room where Jazelle was running back and forth between two battles. When Jazelle saw her she sighed in relief and ran over to her.

"Ruki! Thank god you're back." Before Ruki could even reply Jazelle shoved a mic into her hand.

"No time to talk. The rounds were getting boring so I decided to do two at once, but then it got out of control! You take that table, I'll take the other one."

Ruki blinked as Jazelle ran back to her table. She looked over at "her table" and groaned. For the most part it was all guys… loud, annoying guys. Ok, how the hell do you get the attention of a bunch of peons? She smirked as she got an idea. She went over to some guy and…

__

SLAP(stupid thing doesn't want to center)_!_

Utter silence. Everyone was _dying_ to see who the Digimon Queen had slapped. Ruki used the moment of silence to her advantage. She quickly turned her microphone on and started scolding the group (ya know how that shit goes, so I won't even bother writing it in). The lecturees all went back to their respective tables like a puppy with its tail between its legs.

The matches went by much quicker after everything was back in order. Eventually Ruki's table got to it's final match. She rolled her eyes as she read the competitor's names.

"Round 1011, Kazu vs. Sakai!"

As the two walked onto the stage Ruki couldn't help but put her two cents in. Right before the round began Ruki went to the mic again and spoke up.

"Hey Sakai! Kazu's a pushover so could ya hurry this along so I can get a break?"

Kazu sent her a glare, which she gratefully returned. About 5 minutes later Ruki's jaw hit the gound. Kazu had beaten this guy with ease! As she blinked at the cards Kazu strutted over to her.

"Hey Ruki, still think I'm a pushover?" Ruki knew an offer when she heard one.

"Let's see." Kazu smirked.

The two began a match. 15 seconds later Kazu was beaten. Ruki thought to herself, damn, I actually tried; why did I even bother (?!), he's still a pushover. The other half of Ruki was very relieved, she was beginning to think that hell had frozen over. It was nice to know that the great balance wasn't disturbed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last match passed as a blur to Ruki, literally. Riley was spinning her. She wasn't sure how, but Riley had somehow had a stereo handy. Luckilly enough, he also had a swing cd. So, somewhere after Kazu's match he approached her and offered to give her a lesson. She readilly agreed, there wasn't anything else to do. Jazelle had went to go help Yamaki with his competitors. So she had been left to her own devices.

"Ok, Ruki you have to jump here. Like this." He then did a handstand.

"A handstand?" Ruki asked. He sighed.

"I'm gonna have you straight into the air, so just do the handstand and leave the rest to me."

Ruki sighed, they had been going over this move for a while. But now came the final part, the execution. To be honest, Ruki was kinda scared. It's not that she didn't trust Riley, she just didn't want to fall on her ass again.

"Are you sure you're ready to try this?" Riley asked her… for the 22nd time.

"Riley, have you ever heard of too much concern?" He scratched his head.

"Yeah… I think." Ruki slapped her head and got into her position.

Riley hit the play button. The music started up. Then, next thing she knew, Riley was spinning her again. Ok, she thought, just do a handstand. So, after Riley was done spinning her, he ducked, she jumped into a handstand. Her hands never hit the floor, though. She was in the air! She heard a voice tell her to flip, so she did. Eventually she landed right into Riley's arms.

"What. The. Hell. Was. That." She demanded.

"Good job, your timing was off, though." He congratulated her.

"Huh?" she asked.

Riley then told her what exactly had happened. After spinning her he ducked down. 

So when she had went into her handstand he had suddenly jumped up, hoisting her into the air in the process. The voice that told her to flip was apparantly Riley's, and then he caught her.

"That was fun." Ruki said.

"Wanna try it again?" he asked. She shrugged.

So for 10 minutes the duo kept doing "the move." By the end of the 10 minutes Ruki was frustrated, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get herself to flip at the right time, it was always either too early or too late. It irked her; sometimes, being a perfectionist wasn't a good trait.

"Hey, Ruki. You wanna call it a day? I'll just tell your mom that I gave you a lesson here." She smiled gratefully.

"Thanks."

Ruki showed Riley where the exit was, and then went to go help Yamaki and Jazelle with their competitors. With three battles going at once the rest of the prelims didn't take too long. After the last match had been played out, the three announcers all sighed; then they all made a beeline for the water fountain. Next, they all went their separate ways as if nothing had happened. Ruki then checked her watch, 7:00 pm. She shrugged and decided to go and find the tamers.

After searching for about 15 minutes she found them. They were surrounding the bathroom. Before she could ask, Shuichon supplied an explanation. Apparantly Kazu had had a little too much to drink, so… enough said. When Kazu got out of the bathroom the group started walking around. It was then that Ruki had a revelation.

"Hey Takato, when did you battle?" 

"You didn't see it, it was when that Mario guy was doing the announcing."

"Oh, ehehehe." Ruki blushed, suddenly very aware of the smell on her breath.

The group just continued walking as if nothing happened, but Ruki could swear that she had heard Jenrya cackle. Jenrya cackling, yeah right! Before she could contemplate the theory of a cackling Jenrya, Kazu asked her a question.

"Hey Ruki. Why did you slap me earlier?"


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: Bah, I got bored… so I just continued typing after finishing the last chapter. Sorry, this one's just a tad on the short side. But hey, whatever works right? Oh yeah, peoples be happy… There actually is Ryo in this chapter!!! Gasp. Shock. Hahaha.

Oh yeah! Aye, believe it or not, I'm actually having a contest. In this chapter there's a little chatroom thing. If anybody can correctly guess the true identity of EVERY person in there, I'll give you a… um… thing? But yeah, my message has been delivered. So this paragraph is gonna end.

Urk. Something has come to my attention. ½ doesn't tend to show up on fanfiction.net, so all people who see ½ just know it's one-half.

Disclaimer – NO!!! They stole my new cyber microscope! Sits alone and cries.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryo got off the phone with a smile on his face. Just a few minutes ago he had been talking to Yamaki, who was filling him in on the preliminaries thusfar. From what he had heard, all the tamers would be entering (screw Juri!). Thinking to himself, he wound up making a chart in his head.

Little Suzi wouldn't pose a threat, due to the fact that she's so young. But of course, with the Digimon Queen on her side there was still a good chance that she possessed a great amount of skill. Ryo reminded himself of that fact as he moved to the next person.

Kenta, where to start on Kenta? He was an average card player, better in some fields but pretty bad in others. But then again, according to Reika, Kenta had managed to snag third the previous year. Hmmmm, maybe, just maybe, he might be a concern.

Kazu… a threat? BWAHAHAHA! Ryo was positive that Kazu was a much better card player than he let on; but the question was… how much better? But, Ryo figured Kazu would probably beg him to beat him so that he'd have another reason to worship the ground he walked on. Ryo shivered. 

Jenrya was a shock. There was no point in lying, with Jenrya's pacifistic ways Ryo was just about positive that Jen would be nothing more than an observer. But bloody hell, even legends could be shocked sometimes. But, there was a slight problem... since he had never seen Jenrya battle, he had no way to figure out what kind of strategy to use against him.

Takato was obviously a great card player. True, he had never had the honor of seeing Takato battle, but it was a given. After all, Takato was their 'oh so fearless' leader. Add that to the fact that Takato played even before the digital world… it was painstakingly apparent that Takato had a great amount of potential. But then again, a good question would be: did Takato know how to harness his potential? Before even thinking it aloud Ryo already knew the answer… no he did not.

From all of Ryo's information one thing was clear. If the people (stated above) were almost threats, there was one thing that he would flat out have to _worry_ about. Ruki Makino, the Digimon Queen. As he thought of her his head starteed spinning; in more ways than one. On one side, he wanted to know how what kind of strategy he would use against her. The other side didn't even want to take her on, his smile faltered as he thought of what had happened the last time the duo had battled. If there was one thing he wanted from this trip to Tamerland… it would be Ruki's friendship… at the very least, he blushed as he suddenly had a thought that was very common for the average 18-year-old male.

"Ah… well, more time to think of _that_ later." 

Ryo smirked and got off his couch. After being couped up in his apartment for 1½ days he was ready to go out and have some fun. But no sooner did Ryo grab his coat then he heard Yamaki's voice in his head--_"Ryo, whatever you do, do not, I repeat, DO NOT leave your place. We can't afford having you seen yet."_ Times like this Ryo really wished he hadn't picked up his phone earlier. He shrugged and went to the next best thing to the outside world, his computer.

Ever since he was a little kid Ryo had liked computers. It wasn't long before he moved up from games to the internet; and, by the age of 10, Ryo was a self appointed chatroom master. Now, 8 years later, he still held his "title." After hacking the website a little bit Ryo went into a chatroom that suited his liking, about 2 minutes later Ryo discovered that his life wasn't as bad as he figured…

**__**

My Life Sucks :: Chatroom 4.20

****

ZeProdigy: Hello???

****

MitamaGrL: Hi!

****

Egypt*Rules!: egypt rules! or… it did 3000 years ago… hmm

****

Saotome½: uh, yeah. so prodigy, why does your life suck?

****

ZeProdigy: arg. i save the world time and time again, and what do i get in return? i get to sit around stuck in an apt all day cut off from the world, geez i didn't come to this dimension just to sit

****

LightHawk: ur mad about gettin time alone?

****

Saotome½: why? damn i wish i could be u

****

LightHawk: I kno, my life gives no alone time

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Saotome½: my lifes worse than yours

****

LightHawk: o ya?

****

MitamaGrL: here they go again

****

ZeProdigy: huh?

****

MitamaGrL: evryday those 2 argue ovr whos life sucks more

****

Saotome½: I need privacy! I have 6 people that all wanna marry/date me, I'm magically engaged to 3 of them, out of the remaining 3, 2 are guys an the other one should be in a mental ward, then theres 3 people that try to kill me all the time, and for awhile, one of my 'fiances' tried to kill me too! Not to mention that fact that I can switch genders when hit with cold/hot water, fun eh?

****

LightHawk: spare me, I have 7 girls all after me. 2 are princesses from another planet, 2 are intergalactic cops, 1 is a universal criminal, 1 is a mad scientist, and the one I fell for turns out to not even be real… o I guess that brings me down to 6, but I always have to put up with them destroying my house and trying to (nearly) rape me!

****

Saotome½: ur probably overexaggerating. But hell, my house gets destroyed 2, shit, I have to worry bout getting poisoned!

****

LightHawk: so…I have a sword!

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Saotome½: so… I have… a pigtail!

****

LightHawk: so do I!

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Egypt*Rules!: egyptials do not have pigtails!

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MitamaGrL: shut up!

****

ZeProdigy: uh… could ya 2 call a truce or somethin?

****

Saotome½: ……………

****

LightHawk: ……………

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Saotome½: SHIT! Oi g2g, my fiance cooked… her cooking is TOXIC, toxic I say!

****

Saotome½ logged off

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ZeProdigy: which 1?

****

LightHawk: lol

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MiatamaGrL: lol

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ZeProdigy logged off

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MitamaGrL: ok… I guess hes gone.

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LightHawk: yup, wasn't 2 bad 4 a newbie tho

****

MitamaGrL: yea

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in his room Ryo was pissed. For no reason at all he was just yanked out of a chatroom where he was actually enjoying himself. He was also rudely disconnected as well, he noted.

"What the fuck! Damned computer." He yelled at the screen.

About 20 seconds after his outburst the phone rang. Grumbling all the way he slowly made his way to the phone. He let off a string of swear words when he saw whose name was on the Caller ID. _Yamaki Mitsuo_. Oh, he was so cancelling his JOL service.

"What?" Ryo demanded.

"Hey, sorry to take you offline, but I had to ask you something."

"Yes?" Ryo tapped his foot impatiently.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" that got Ryo's attention.

"Why~?" Yamaki sighed.

The two talked for about 10 more minutes about what would happen tomorrow. Ryo would be making the chart for the actual tournament. So basically all he really had to do was wait for people to draw numbers and then record the results. After he had a good amount of people down he could start putting the pairs together. It seemed simple enough; at least, up until he found out there'd be 256 people for him pair off.

He sat around for another minute before deciding to make himself an early dinner, according to his clock it was only 5:00. Oh well, he thought, I can always shove it in the fridge if I don't want it when it's done. No sooner did he start before he got another call. As he went to the phone he looked in the mirror. Damn, I really have to wash my hair, he thought, oh well… I'll do it later. He grabbed the phone and turned it on. 

"Hello." The voice on the other line started giggling.

"Hi, I'd like a pepperoni pizza with anchovies, lots of anchovies." Ryo blinked.

"Uh, you have the wrong number." He hung up.

About 3 seconds later the phone rang again. Ryo sighed and picked up the phone again. He stared at it for a moment before speaking.

"Hello." Ryo said.

"Hi! Guess what! You just won a million dollars!" Ryo hung up.

"Dumbass."

Ryo was about to go back to his dinner. He was about to start cooking again, but then he had a better idea. He went to the phone and dialed in an operator's number. He asked for the numbers of his last two callers. Unsuprisingly, the numbers were identical.

"Okay, thank you." Ryo quickly dialed the number.

"Hello." Came a male voice.

"Hi, may I speak with the person that was just using this phone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Uh, sure. Let me go get him. Oi! KAZU!" 

Takato was now confused. About a minute ago Kazu had asked him if he could use his cell, now some guy calls up asking to talk to him. He thought he heard the dude on the other line whisper Kazu's name, but then dismissed the thought. It was probably just the wind.

"Yeah, what?" Kazu asked.

"Phone call." He gave Kazu the phone.

Takato went back to the group. Everyone, excluding Ruki and Kenta, seemed a bit nervous about tomorrow. He himself had to admit that he was a bit on edge. Even though he had been playing this game for years, he was still nervous. This was different then the other battles, this was the championship. He grimaced as he remembered what happened the only other time he tried to get into the tournament.

Takato smiled as he went into the building. It was day four of the preliminaries and he had made it to the semi-finals. His smile faltered for a moment as he looked at the wall. On it, there was another "Have you seen Ryo Akiyama?" poster. He sighed; it had only been two weeks since Ryo left. The Digimon People had taken advantage of his disappearance, and announced the championships would be taking place.

"Ok, folks! To start off the semi-finals for the preliminaries we'll have… Takato vs. Ramuh!"

He looked at his opponent. 'Ramuh' looked about 60-70 years old with a long mustache and a… ponytail? Takato smiled; hopefully the old guy wouldn't do so good. Besides, how much could an old guy know about digimon? 

The overconfident Takato expected a quck match… and a quick match he got. To Takato, it seemed that the announcer had just said to begin when the match ended. He gaped, wide eyed, as he finally figured out what happened, he lost! He grudgingly extended his hand out so that the two guys could shake hands, the smiling Ramuh took it.

"Well played, boy. But never underestimate your opponent." Takato nodded.

"Watch out Ramuh, I'll come back someday." Ramuh blinked.

"I'll be looking forward to it."

The two looked at each other one last time before splitting ways. Even though Ruki's match was coming up Takato left. He already knew what would happen anyway, Ruki would win. She never underestimated her oponents…

Takato smiled and shook his head. Ramuh went on to finish second place, beaten only by Ruki. He's held that title for a good 4 years too. Hmmm, Takato thought, maybe, just maybe, I'll see Ramuh at this thing. Now, that'd be interesting…

"Hey, man! I'm done with your phone." Kazu gave him the cell.

"Who was it?"

"I dunno. But he said that he'd hook me up with some model if I gave him my e-mail address."

"Kazu. Sometimes I worry about you." Takato shook his head.

Kazu shrugged and walked off. Looking at everyone he noticed that they all were not only nervous, but preoccupied as well. Kazu and Kenta were playing 'Bloody Knuckles,' Jenrya was meditating, and Ruki and Suzi were both trying to teach Juri how to play the card game… to no avail.

"Arg! I'll never understand this!" Juri yelled in frustration.

"Oh c'mon Juri, it's not that hard." Ruki compromised.

"Really! Look at me, I've only been playing for about a week and look how far I've gotten."

Suzi had a point there, Takato had to admit. Although the girl had only just learned how to play not to long ago, she was a truly gifted player. Watching her now, Takato was pretty positive that she would make the top 5, at least. Hell, only 2 more battles until the real thing… HANG ON! Two more battles… 

"OH FUCK!"

__

Jenrya opened an eye, surprised at Takato's outburst. He looked at Takato as if asking him for an answer, but Takato wasn't looking at him. He was looking at the girls. Jenrya shrugged and went back to his meditating.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note: Hey there peoples! Man, soooooooooooooo sorry this chapter took so damn long to be typed. But yeah, I got kinda lost in all my lovely schoolwork… but… the finals have come and gone and (hopefully) I won't be flunking!!! Ok, enough about me, let's just move on. 

Cennamo and BloodyKitsune, happy? I finally got this crazy chapter out!!!

RikaryoTJHA, oh wow… (sniff sniff) I feel so honored!!! So if you're reading this, just know that your sensei is pleased. Hehehe.

SR71-will, yeah, hey dude. Everyone has their own opinion, but if you're looking for Rukato this definitely isn't the story for you to be reading.

And a VERY special thanks to Tamer of Darkness, who is currenty mad at me. I'm soooooooo sorry I never gave you a shout out, you know you deserve one! So (getting on my knees) please please forgive me!!!!

Oh yeah! I totally forgot about the chatroom thingy, hmmmmm, Tamer of Darkness was the closest… getting 3.5 out of a possible 5 right. Congrats congrats. Don't worry, these characters don't have any impact on the plot or anything, it's just a silly side story thing. So don't worry. Okie dokie? Oh yeah! Answer time…

ZeProdigy was Ryo!!!

Saotome½ was Ranma from Ranma½!!!

LightHawk was Tenchi from Tenchi Muyo!!!

Egypt*Rules was Yami Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh!!!

MitamaGrL was Momiji from Blue Seed!!! 

Disclaimer – Of course I don't own anything! Too bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hi (!) And welcome to Day 2 of the Preliminaries!" Jazelle yelled.

Ruki and Yamaki looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Welcome indeed. The duo heard a cackle beside them and looked at Aoshi, one of Yamaki's buddies. When Ruki first _heard_ him she had mistaken him for Felix, but as soon as she _saw_ him the similarities ended. 

First off, where Felix wore shades Aoshi didn't. The one time she actually _had_ seen Felix's eyes, she was positive that they were blue; Aoshi's, one the other hand, were brown. Felix had really long black hair and Aoshi had long brown hair. Felix wore colors such as black and red while Aoshi wore white, gray, and blue. And while she didn't know Aoshi personally, it seemed like she knew him from somewhere. That was a feeling she didn't have with Felix. 

Yamaki abruptly stood up and took the mic. Jazelle bounced over to Aoshi and Ruki and took a seat. Yamaki started talking and Jazelle sent Ruki an odd look. Ruki raised an eyebrow in response. 

"Hey Ruki, aren't you the first match?" Aoshi asked. Ruki widened her eyes.

"Oh Shit!" She took off. Jazelle blinked.

"Excuse me, my brother is about to get his ass kicked. I'm his moral support."

Ryo watched the two girls walk off, and released the breath he was holding. He was just about positive that he'd be recognized; but, luckily, he wasn't. He shuddered as he watched Jazelle go. He remembered Jazelle, for awhile she had liked him, and was she ever persistent. His school had liked the idea of them going out, him being the 'legendary tamer' and her being the 'most popular girl,' everyone assumed that the two had a relationship. When he had outright told her he didn't like her like that she understood and accepted it; it was the school that didn't want to believe it. He was saved from their wrath, though. About a week after their 'breakup' he got sent to the digiworld… again.

No sooner did he finish what he was thinking when the two girls were walking back. Ruki, with a smirk on her face, and Jazelle bombarding her with questions. Jazelle eventually ended her questioning and went off to find her brother while Ruki sighed in relief. Ryo smiled and shook his head.

Ruki walked back from her match with a smirk on her face. She thought about the match and asked herself, why shouldn't I smirk… he was a pushover. She looked at Aoshi, he seemed to be thinking about something, she really wanted to go over to him and wrap her arms around his shoulders but knew she couldn't at the same time. She really needed some time to think. Jazelle, as if reading her thoughts, left to go find her brother. Ruki sighed.

She was confused. Right now her mind was circulating between 3 totally different guys. First, there was Felix. She knew that she was attracted to him, she knew that much for sure. But was that just it? Attraction, or was there more. Secondly, there was Aoshi. Why the hell did she want to kiss a guy she just met? Arg, that one was confusing. Then of course, there was none other than Ryo Akiyama. She was still waiting for him, simple as that. But… wherever he was… was he waiting for her as well?

"Penny for your thoughts." Ruki looked at Aoshi.

"Will you really listen to them?" he nodded.

"Ok, come on then."

The duo got up and took an escape route onto the roof, oblivious to the cheers being ommitted from the crowd. Lee Shuichon had just won the second round.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The duo reaced the roof without a hitch. But once they were up there an odd silence sort of took over. For the moment, none of them really knew what to say. Ryo was the one who wound up breaking the ice.

"So… do you want your penny now or later?" Ruki cracked a smile.

"Keep your damned penny. All I need is advice." Ryo raised an eyebrow.

"So you ask me? A guy you just met." Ruki rolled her eyes.

"Normally I'd just ask Jenrya for advice… but I can't talk to him since he's a competitor and I have to be ready to take the mic at all times… now doesn't count."

Ryo smiled, Ruki smiled back. Ryo broke the gaze before he did something he'd wind up regretting. 

"I see, so what was on your mind?" she sighed.

"Guy problems. You see there's this one guy, Felix. You might know him. But anyways, I met him about 2 weeks ago and… oh I dunno, I guess we flirted and stuff and I eventually developed this serious crush on him. One night we; Felix, Alice, and I, were all at some skating rink. We sorta kissed and then came the weird part. He abruptly cut it off and started apologizing to me. And then--"

She noticed herself starting to tear up. Don't do this, she thought, not in front of Aoshi! To keep the tears from falling she sniffed. She looked over at Aoshi; he had found a chair and motioned for her to come over. She akwardly sat on his lap and he rubbed her back and motioned for her to continue.

"--And then he left me there. Fuck, I was alone, insecure, and heartbroken. Alice didn't know, she was with Kazu and Kenta. I left on my own and caught a bus home. I-I think he hates me or something. I've accepted the fact that I can't be with him, whatever the reason may be… but all weekend I've been looking for him. Ya know, just to tell him that I'd like to be his friend at least. But I can't find him anywhere."

By now she was very well near crying again. Ryo shook his head and muttered the word "jackass." Ruki didn't care as she continued on with her tale.

"But he's not the only confusing thing in my life right now. You see, lately I've been thinking about someone else. There was this one guy, let's call him Guy B… years ago he was here. But then he left, I don't know why. But I don't know, the day I met Felix I started feeling guilty and shit, like I was betraying Guy B. I just don't get it…"

She cut off. She didn't know where this conversation was going; fuck, she didn't even know the guy! Ruki told her brain to shut up as she looked into Aoshi's face; he was deep in thought so he didn't notice her staring. Looking at him now, Ruki could actually believe he was 18 (as he claimed); usually he had a look on his face that made him seem like he was older. Ruki jumped as he abruptly broke the silence.

"Ruki, what was your status with Guy B?" she thought about that for a moment.

"Ya know, I couldn't answer that one, strangely enough. For awhile I sorta hated him, dumbass reason. But later on I didn't hate him anymore, and we were something of friends. Heh, he probably thought I hated him or something. I never acted like anything but a bitch to him. Then he left, damn, if I had known I probably wouldn't have been so pissy to him during our last days, oh well."

Ryo smiled to himself. Nah, he thought, I never thought you hated me. If I had, I wouldn't have gone saving you. He thanked all that was holy in that moment. It had finally registered in his mind, she was waiting for him! His inner smile turned into a frown as he remembered that he was leaving later that month, possibly for good this time.

"Hey, Aoshi. Is there any special girl you've been waiting around for?"

Ruki looked up in anticipation at him. Her heart started to sink as she heard his answer.

"Yeah, there's a girl. I fell for her a few years ago, though I hadn't really had any real conversations with her, we were something of friends. I moved away when I was 14, she was still 11. It seemed wrong to me, since she was so much younger than I was, but she really didn't act her age. I didn't want to have her know how I felt yet; I didn't want to have my feelings as a burden on her conscious ya know. But I dunno, maybe I'll tell her if I see her anytime soon. It's hard, knowing she was there all that time, but not being able to say anything. Oh well, that's history now… sorta."

He then smiled again. Ruki observed that with respect. She respected the fact that he cared for the girl enough to sacrifice his own feelings for her. That was something that most men twice his age wouldn't do. She got up and offered him a hand, a smile gracing her features.

"Come on, we ought to be getting back to the tournament."

He smiled and took her hand. As he went on ahead Ruki gasped. Wow, she thought, when he smiles he looks a little bit like Ryo. She quickly banned the thought from her head. In her mind Ryo and Aoshi had one thing that they would never have in common, heartbreak. To her knowledge Ryo could get any girl he pleased; Aoshi, on the other hand, can't have the one girl he really wants. She sighed and went back into the building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That's it folks, Round 19 is officially over! The winner is Takato!"

Jenrya looked up for a moment. He politely clapped for Takato before going back to his deck. Even though his match was a good 200 battles away it couldn't hurt to be prepared. The fact of the matter was that he was nervous, after all, digimon was Ruki's thing, not his. He sighed and tried to concentrate, and wound up grumbling a minute later. Shuichon, seeing how frustrated he seemed, came over and sat with him.

"Hey Jen, you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine. Just a little nervous, ya know?" she nodded.

"Don't worry so much. I mean look at me, I'm half the age of most of the people here and I'm not complaining. Just keep a calm head, trust me, it works."

She smiled and walked off. Jenrya looked at his sister's back. "Thanks" he called out, she paused for a moment and sent him another smile before headin over to where Kazu was trying to hit on some girls. Jenrya gave the two a wary look… Kazu and Suzi… nah!

"What's so fascinating?" Jenrya turned around.

"Huh? Takato! Oh, nothing really. Congrats on the win." Takato grinned.

"Thanks…" 

Takato looked to where Kazu and Shuichon were now sitting at a table and talking animatedly.

"Nothing you say? It seems that little Suzi's growing up, wouldn't you agree?" Jenrya looked away.

"Please. She's only 11 (I know she's supposed to be 4 years younger but just go with it ok?); Kazu, on the other hand, is 14. That's a big age gap." Takato rolled his eyes.

"Don't take this the wrong way but Suzi's not the little girl she used to be. She's an early bloomer, and in some… ***ahem***… areas, it really shows. But don't worry, she's smart. Smarter than Kazu, at least." Jenrya blinked.

"Well, you have a point there… I guess it is better if she was with someone I trusted."

Takato rolled his eyes again. Jenrya sent him a quizzical look. What was wrong now?

"Geez Jen, you act as if they really _were_ a couple." If looks could kill, Takato would be long gone.

"You mean they _aren't_ together. I was worrying for nothing!"

This was followed by one of those cliché anime chase scenes. Jenrya with fire for eyes and Takato running so fast that his legs looked like a big cloud or something. That went on for another good minute or two; then they abruptly stopped for no reason, and went to get some drinks. Kazu and Shuichon watched the two in amusement.

"Sooooo, what do you think that was about?" Kazu asked.

"I have no idea. I don't think I wanna find out."

Kazu smiled and looked at the girl in front of him. There was no denying it, she was cute. Her pink/burgundy hair had grown out and now cascaded down her back. She had grown a good foot and was now up to his nose. Heh, she was once the little girl that hung out with the older kids… now she was just another one in the crew. Kazu looked to the sky and silently asked, why? Why did I have to like a girl with a karate master for a brother?

Suzi looked at Kazu and smirked. It felt nice, she admitted, having someone look at her that way. Like she was actually a person, not just a body (that didn't make much sense). Unknown to her brother, Suzi had had a fair amount of guys asking her out, none believing that she was just 11. From what she had been told, she sure didn't look it. Looking at Kazu again she couldn't help but ask herself, how could I have taken a liking to such an idiot? It was that idiocity of his, she surmised, that had attracted her to him in the first place. He was so carefree and funloving, how could she resist?

A loud _CLANK_ brought the duo back to their senses. They looked up in alarm then immediately calmed down; Jenrya had graciously brought them drinks. Takato just sorta waved and took a seat next to them. The two gave forced smiles and greeted the two dudes.

"Hey guys." They said simultaneously. The latter nodded in response.

A long moment of silence rested over the quartet. Kazu wound up breaking it by banging his head on the table.

"Hey! I totally forgot about these! Anyone up for cards?" everyone shrugged.

"So what should we play? Speed? Poker? Blackjack? Gin Rummy?" Takato held up a hand.

"No. We will play... _thirteen_."

Suddenly the four friends all smirked at each other. Jenrya coughed and dealt up the cards. They all picked up their cards and placed them in order, each of them keeping a strict poker face... it had begun.

Ruki looked over at her friends and shook her head. She had been observing them for awhile, and quite a show it was too. Jen had been staring at Suzi and Kazu for awhile, then Takato pissed him off and he started chasing him around; after the chase Jen had dragged Takato to the bar area where he got some glasses and went over to Suzi and Kazu, for awhile the four didn't do much; Kazu suddenly banged his head on the table, the four started smirking at each other, and now they seemed to be playing cards. Very enlightening. 

"What are you looking at?" Aoshi asked her.

"Huh? Them." She pointed out the table.

"Your buddies?" She nodded.

"They may be a bit odd, but i wouldn't trade 'em for anything."

Ryo smiled as he watched them. From the looks of it the "Crew" hadn't changed much. Takato was still the leader guy, Jenrya still kept a calm exterior, and Kazu… was Kazu. But Shuichon on the other hand, had grown up. From the looks of it she had chosen to crush on none other than Kazu. Tragic. Oh well, he shrugged, her life.

After passing the mic to Jazelle, Yamaki sat down beside Ruki. She looked up and nodded in acknowledgement. She eventually looked away from her friends and started watching the competitors battle.

"Ruki, do you have to be home by 4:00 today?" he asked.

"Yeah. Grandma's been getting really stressed about Mom and I arguing about my 'staying out late' habits."

That was true, at least. Grandma really _had_ been getting stressed about her daughter and grandaughter's constant bickering. But it was about more than just her staying out late. The two could hardly be in the same room without disagreeing about something. Ruki didn't know, that night something inside her had snapped.

__

"Mom, I don't know what to do with her. Should I put her up for adoption?"

"No, Rumiko. You should let her grow up on her own."

"But she's so out of it! She doesn't even want to model!"

"Rumiko, you should try accepting her."

"Never Mother. That girl needs to get her act together, she's a disgrace to my name."

"Whatever Rumiko, I give up."

Ruki would outright admit that she had been being even icier with her mother ever since the event. There would be no use denying it. She just didn't see the point in acting respectful (as respecful as Ruki gets at least) towards someone who would put her up for adoption just because she didn't model.

"Yeah, so you'll be there." Yamaki asked.

"Of course." Aoshi replied.

"Huh? What's up now?" she suddenly asked.

"I'm treating everyone who helped out with the tournament." Yamaki replied.

"Oh." 

"Ruki, my offer still stands. You did help out a good deal."

Seeing Yamaki being so nice made Ryo grin. He had always known that Reika and Yamaki had feelings for one another. But never in a million years would he have thought that Reika alone would make him change for the better. True, good 'ol Yamaki was still assholic at times. But there were times like these that proved that he wasn't the same man he was 3½ years ago.


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Note: Hey, I got bored so I wound up typing. Sorry this is so short.

Bah, I made another chatroom. I still haven't figured out what to give Tamer of Darkness yet (Any ideas? Please contribute!!!), but yeah…

Disclaimer – I'm too tired to put up with this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Takato groaned as Kazu put down his last card. For the last 6 rounds Kazu had been kicking everyone's asses at cards. Well, he figured, everyone has to be good at _something_. But, damn, he did not like losing to Kazu!

"Hey guys, I'll be back in a little while." They all nodded and went back to the game.

He rolled his eyes and started walking in some random direction. Eventually he found himself face to face with a security officer. Takato cocked his head to the side like a naïve little child. The security officer blinked.

"What are you doing here, kid?" he asked.

"Um… where am I again?" Facefault.

The security guard motioned behind him. Takato looked inside and blanched. From the looks of it, the place was bigger than it seemed; and on the other side of the building… _stuff_… happened. Takato abruptly turned around and walked the other way. The image of a naked chick and corny music still very fresh in his mind.

About 20 minutes later Takato had made a deduction, he was lost. Looking around the area was driving him insane; every corridor looked the same. Eventually he was faced with a fork in the road. Left or right? Takato shrugged, dug in his pocket a bit, and flipped a coin. Tails, Takato went left.

About halfway down the left corridor Takato heard some voices. He started walking toward the voices; gradually they started getting louder and louder. Next thing he knew, he was in a cafeteria! He smiled and thanked the gods that he finally found a place that he recognized.

"Who're you with?" came a rude voice. Takato thought fast.

"The card tournament." She nodded.

"Go ahead."

Takato licked his lips and hurried along. He wound up getting some ramen (beef, to be exact) and a coke. He quickly ate his food and started up on his quest to find the tournament again. He wondered what the gang was doing at the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"HOORAY! I win again!" Kazu yelled.

Shuichon and Jenrya grumbled as they passed their money over to Kazu, who was now pretty damn rich. Where the fuck was Takato, they wondered, he had been gone for quite a while now. Whatever, he was probably having the time of his life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now where am I?" Takato asked himself.

Yet again he was in some place he didn't recognize. It looked like an office of some sort but one couldn't be sure. Then he noticed the computers…

"Ah, I still have some time to kill. Why not?" he asked himself.

At one of the computers Takato noticed a list of chatrooms, he signed himself in and decided to do a little chatting before continuing his search. He waited patiently for the chatroom to come up.

**__**

Saving The World, Why Bother? :: Chatroom 5.22

002: like I was saying, theres no point to savin this mudball, if ye do, then you jus have to save it all over again

****

Saotome½: true true, but whenevr I save it its cuz someone has stolen my fiance

****

LightHawk: which one

****

Saotome½: fuck u

****

Humanoid_Typhoon: saotome has a point, though, women are always trouble. besides one little incident, I had no problems up until I met up with 2 of them

****

089: I fight off monsters, the woman tht assists me is incompetent

****

Takatomon: dude, that's harsh… not all women are problems

****

LightHawk: lol

****

Saotome½: lol

****

002: lol

****

Humanoid_Typhoon: lol

****

089: ha. ha. ha. 

****

Takatomon: im serious

****

Saotome½: whatever u say dude

****

002: damn, we're being attacked

****

002 logged off

****

Humanoid_Typhoon: so………

****

Takatomon: ……

****

Takatomon: what do ya do in your spare time

****

Saotome½: TRAIN!! and avoid my fiances, rivals, mother, and hot water… not easy, let me tell you

****

LightHawk: try to escape my house without being noticed… doesn't happen very often

****

Humanoid_Typhoon: run from the authorities… try to find my evil brother

****

089: you fools are incompetent

****

089 logged off

Takatomon: geez, whats his beef

****

LightHawk: don't matter, hes always like dat

****

Humanoid_Typhoon: so takatomon, why did ye lose faith in savin ze world

****

Takatomon: I dunno, ppl don't seem very grateful, they just like to kno the answerz to evrything. Ya see, me an my friends saved the world once

****

Takatomon: NO, make that TWO worlds. anyways, we went through hell just to get out of 1 world, an when we save the world… the adults get rid of the ONE good thing we got out of it… for no reason at all 

****

LightHawk: I kno whatcha mean… sorta, I once had to go back in time ta save the future as we knew it. I saw my parents as teenagers and all that junk, but yeah my mom died when I was hella young, so it was like my first time seeing her. but when I left ye have no idea how much I wanted to warn her about her death… but I didn't, so… she died again… etc.

****

Humanoid_Typhoon: sad…

****

Saotome½: ya… but ur lucky, I wish I could go back in time, id change a lot of things. im not complainin, my life is… unique… but theres jus some things I wasn't ready to deal with, but whatever! Why the f*ck are we all bein so down! we're all heroes, or somethin to zat extent

****

Humanoid_Typhoon: not me, im an outlaw, but I get what ur sayin

****

Takatomon: an outlaw? do tell

****

Humanoid_Typhoon: not much to tell, I got framed for somethin my brother did, now im feared all over, that's about it

****

LightHawk: well, if ur not a hero… get out!

****

Humanoid_Typhoon has been kicked out

Saotome½: howd ya do that???

****

LightHawk: simple, im the one who created this chatroom, so I have the authority to do whatever I please

****

Takatomon: ya made this? wow that's impressive

****

LightHawk: thanks, I kno. sometimes it helps to live with a mad scientist

****

Saotome½: …… im bored!

****

LightHawk: ditto

****

Takatomon: I got an idea, lets make a story. like we keep adding onto each others sentences til we reach the end

****

Saotome½: why not

****

Takatomon: ok. heh, I once knew a stripper

****

Saotome½: who's name was akane

****

LightHawk: she was busy every night

****

002 has entered the chatroom

Saotome½: because she was so good in bed

****

Takatomon: (hey 002 add to our story) but sadly, she was really a man

****

LightHawk: guys would vomit when they found out the truth

****

002: and then they would commit suicide

****

Takatomon: so no one ever found out her secret

****

Saotome½: she couldnt cook worth sh*t

****

002: so she died of malnutritioin

****

LightHawk: but the gods took pity on her

****

Saotome½: and let her become a goddess

****

Takatomon: she met a bunch of gods up there

****

002: and fuck*d them all

****

MitamaGRL has entered the chatroom

LightHawk: (add on if u want) nobody really cared

****

Takatomon: about akane so she

****

002: tried her luck in hell

****

Saotome½: she still couldnt cook

****

MitamaGRL: but it didn't matter

****

Takatomon: she was happy

****

LightHawk: down in hell

****

002: being the devil's b*tch and all

****

MitamaGRL: she eventually gathered enough strength to put her life together

****

002: then she remembered she was dead

****

MitamaGRL: but she still wanted to leave hell

****

002: and ultimately decided against it

****

MitamaGRL: so that she could make it a better place

****

002: but the demons didn't agree with her methods

****

MitamaGRL: but they eventually gave up the struggle

****

002: or so she thought

****

MitamaGRL: when she found out

****

002: she could only say one thing

****

MitamaGRL: ARG!

****

MitamaGRL logged off

002: (score!) as she tortured the demons

****

Takatomon: but she eventually stopped

****

LightHawk: when she decided

****

Saotome½: she wanted to take over the world!

****

002: (lol) so she got help from

****

Saotome½: all the gods she fuck*d

****

002: they all agreed, naturally

****

Saotome½: so they set their sights

****

002: on the USA

****

Saotome½: the battle ended after 10

****

002: seconds

****

Saotome½: after some victory fu*king

****

002: they left to go take over

****

Saotome½: japan

****

LightHawk: but before they could

****

Takatomon: akane woke up

****

LightHawk: and realized it was all just a dream

****

Takatomon: THE END 

****

Saotome½: ah, u guys are no fun

****

002: it was just gettin good

****

Takatomon logged off

After logging off Takato quickly hid, he was positive he had heard voices. He was soon proved correct when some dude walked into the room. He didn't do very much, though. He just walked in and turned off the computers, then left again. Takato got out of his hiding spot and made a mad dash for the door. He got out of the room and checked his watch, 30 minutes had gone by. Damn, he had been gone for nearly an hour; and he still had no idea where the hell he was!

He started walking again, hoping he'd reach some area he was familiar with. After 10 minutes and no luck Takato started looking for an exit, he knew that once he got outside it would be simple to get back to where he wanted to go. He didn't find an exit, as he had hoped; but instead found himself on the roof! 

"Is this really your first?" came a female's voice.

"Ruki?" Takato asked himself.

"Yeah, but whatever. Why not now?" came a guy's voice.

Many gears were now spinning inside Takato's head. He knew the guy's voice was familiar but he couldn't quite place it. Bah, more time to worry about that later. Right now he wanted to know what was going on. 

"Hey Ruki! Is that you~ WHOA!"

Sure enough, there was Ruki. Sure enough, there was some dude. But… since when did Ruki _smoke_? Takato just blinked at her. She stared back. The guy just watched the two. Takato nodded… Ruki smiled.

"Hey Takato. Guess the cat's out of the bag, eh?" She smiled.

"Yup. How long has this been going on?" she looked down

"About 3 years." He gasped.

"Well, what can I say. Besides Jen, no one bothered asking me." she shrugged.

"Oh yeah! Takato, this is Aoshi. Aoshi, this is Takato."

Ryo smiled as he shook Takato's hand. Sure, it was weird; getting reaquainted with an old friend. But the nervousness burned away within minutes. After all, Takato would always be Takato.

"So, you like the arcade?"

"Hell yes. I basically live there."

"You serious? I've never seen you there."

"Wanna go after this is over?

"Yeah, sure."

Takato smiled. This Aoshi guy was pretty cool. But… he seemed familiar. As if they had known each other at some point in their lives. He shrugged it off; he had had a lot of friends in his lifetime, after all.

Ruki rolled her eyes at the two and continued to smoke her cancer stick.

"Hey Aoshi, you want one or not?" she offered a cig to him.

"Yeah yeah." 

He lit it and inhaled; much to Ruki's amazement, he didn't cough at all. He smoked about half of it before putting it out; and, noticing her shocked look, smiled. She cocked her head in response.

"Yeah, this is my first time smoking a cigarette. But I never said it was my first time smoking _anything_." Ruki smirked.

"Pothead." He scoffed.

"Now, I wouldn't go that far." 

Takato just watched the two trade jabs at each other. It was actually quite entertaining, to say the least. But… there was one thing he had to ask.

"Hey, Ruki... Can I get a drag?" she shrugged and gave it to him.

"Sure, here ya go." He took it akwardly and inhaled.

"COUGH. HACK." Ruki and Aoshi burst into laughter at that. 

"Yeah yeah. Laugh it up."

And laugh they did. After a good 2 minutes Takato cleared his throat. The two looked up at him and stopped (laughing) abruptly. Ruki checked her watch and nodded to the two.

"I guess it's time we went back down." the guys shrugged.

As Takato thought back to what he had gone through (not much, really) during his hour he grinned. It wasn't everyday someone got to stumble upon a porn being filmed, use someone else's computer to chat, then hide so that they wouldn't be detected; and to finish off the list, he had tried his first cigarette. Quite the hour, indeed.


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note: Ehehehehehehe, I told you I wasn't dead... (ducking for cover here!). Am I still alive??? Yes! No flying objects! Muahahaha! So yeah, I seriously feel like I should at least try to justify myself here.

As I said in the old chapter 18, home really wasn't the best place for me for awhile. I'm sorry to all my reviewers because I know that's no excuse. But it's really all I can give. I wound up doing some things I probably shouldn't have done, but I did. And I paid for it. From Rehabilitation to Summer School, I've had to deal with it. Or... in my words, I had to kiss some serious ass to get the computer back to me. Heh. But yeah, I'm back and I know this chapter isn't very long, but I'll just add some other ones along. I Love You all peoples!!!

Ok, there's a moment in here where Ruki's gonna get a bit ooc. So don't worry folks, I realize that the action is not in Ruki fashion so yeah. Oh yeah, I would take it out... but the ooc moment has a purpose that will be revealed later on.

Disclaimer - FIGHT THE MAN!!!!!!

* * *

Rrrrrrrr, Yamaki grumbled, where the fuck did those two go? He looked around the area for any sign of Ryo or Ruki. About 10 minutes ago the two had decided to go off with each other to do… stuff… leaving Yamaki there alone while Jazelle played announcer. It really got irritating sitting around on a stage doing absolutely nothing. So Yamaki decided that then was as good as any time to have a "momentary smoke," as Ruki called it. 

So he got up and headed toward the roof entrance. But no sooner did he open the door than Ruki, Ryo, and _Takato_ came piling out of it. Upon seeing him, the three teenagers did nothing more than blink.

"So that's where you two were." He said to Ryo and Ruki.

"Ehehehehehe…. Momentary smoke?" he rolled his eyes

"Figures. But anyways, you two need to get some of the competitors into the other room."

"Why? Don't we have less people today?" Ruki asked.

"I don't exactly want to stay here all day." He said sharply. She nodded.

Suddenly he had no desire to smoke at the moment. So the group headed back to the preliminaries, said goodbye to Takato, and made their way to the stage. Jazelle gave a sigh of relief when she saw them come back. She quickly handed the microphone to Ruki and sat down to take a break.

"Geez, I thought you guys would never come back." She said while getting some water (lets say the announcers get a pitcher, ok!)

"Hey, I was only gone for 5 minutes." Yamaki defended himself. She shrugged.

"Besides, weren't you only up there for about 15 matches?"

Jazelle rolled her eyes. Easy for him to say, he was only announcing 3 matches at a time. Didn't they realize that the first cut had been made? Better competitors Longer matches, DUH!

* * *

Suzi looked up as Takato came back to the table. She dryly noted that he had a different smell surrounding him. She smirked as she put two and two together. 

"So nice of you to rejoin us Takato. Did you have fun?" he gave her a skeptic look.

"Sure, if you count getting lost, fun." She gave him a pointed look.

"Hey, Takato, come and get some drinks with me." he blinked.

"No, it's ok. I'm not really thirs--"

"I INSIST."

He gulped when he saw her face. She had this whole blazing eyes thing going on. To be honest, it was kinda creepy. Geez, now I know how a deer feels (ya know, the whole deer and the headlights thing). He nimbly nodded and followed her to the drink stand.

"Ok, spill. Who were you smoking with?" he felt his breath shorten.

"What do ya mean?" he squeeked. She smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm not telling anyone." He shook his head.

"You got it all wrong, I only took one hit." She shrugged.

"I figured as much… want a mint?"

He grumbled and took the mint. Why he was grumbling, he didn't quite know himself. But, none the less, he did. He then looked over at Yamaki, who in turn stared right abck at him. He rolled his eyes at the aristrocrat, the focused his eyes elsewhere.

Suzi, curious as to what he was looking at, looked toward the stage. While looking at the stage she caught sight of a guy. He looked about her brother's age, give or take a few years, and was pretty cute. As she kept staring at him a silly grin made appeared on her face.

"Suzi? What's so interes-- OH!" Suzi snapped out of her trance.

"Huh? What's up?" she asked him.

"Oh, nothing… you're into Aoshi!" he blurted. She blinked at him.

"Aoshi?" Takato slapped his forehead and pointed to the aforementioned.

"That's Aoshi. You're starin' at him as if he was a god of some sort. I'm not even mentioning the way you grinned at him. Lovestruck!"

"Alrighty Takato, you keep thinking that." He grinned.

"Fine, I will then."

Takato left after she rolled her eyes at him. He laughed to himself as he walked off. Never in his life did he ever think that Suzi would become interested in a guy other that Kazu… shows how wrong he was. He looked over at her one more time; she was staring at Aoshi.

* * *

Ryo yawned in boredom… again. He checked his watch, _ARG_, he thought, only 5 minutes since I last checked. He watched Ruki pronounce some dude the winner of his match. To the untrained eye, it appeared as if Ruki didn't really mind announcing, she just did it for no good reason. He prided himself on noticing that she wasn't exactly having fun over there (let's say she has a really convincing fake act all right!). 

Turning his attention away from Ruki he looked toward the tamers and noticed Shuichon staring at him. When she saw him looking her way she smirked and winked. Needless to say, that caught him off guard. He coughed, getting the attention of both Yamaki and Jazelle.

"Hey, you need some water or something?" Yamaki asked.

"No, I'm fine. But I think I just got winked at by a girl that's a good 8 years younger than me." Jazelle laughed.

"Aoshi, are you like blind? C'mon, if I didn't have a boyfriend I'd be all over you!" she eyed him appreciatively.

"Eheh, eheh…" Ruki walked over.

"Yamaki, your turn."

Yamaki muttered the word "fuck" before snatching up the microphone and stomping away. Ruki blinked after him and shrugged. She raised an eyebrow and the blushing Aoshi and the giggling Jazelle.

"Um… should I ask?" Jazelle looked at her.

"I was telling Aoshi here how majorly cute he was." She pinched his cheek… and winked to Ruki.

Ruki, catching the wink, decided to play along. Even thought she knew that she'd feel foolish for this later. But there was simply no denying it, Aoshi was a fine piece of man meat.

"Oi! Don't you do so much as eye him. He's _all_ mine."

She settled herself in his lap, kissed his cheek, and abruptly went back to her seat, blushing profusedly. She could hear Jazelle laughing; and, eventually, her laughter joined that of Jazelle's. Poor Ryo never knew what hit him. He said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Um… should I ask?"

That, of course, caused the two girls to laugh even harder. Ryo just shook his head and laughed along with them. About 5 minutes later, after all the laughter had died down, the trio realized that they were bored. Where the hell was Reika?!?!

_When Takato, Yamaki, Ruki, and Ryo came in earlier they split. Yamaki and Jazelle did the announcing while Ruki and Ryo went to fix up the adjoined room that was used yesterday. When they turned on the light they groaned._

"_Damn, it wasn't this messy yesterday." Ruki said._

"_I'll bet." Ryo replied._

_There was a nice collection of junk all over the floor. Luckilly, for the most part, it was just a bunch of wrappers. So after they got all those off the floor it wasn't too hard to get the rest of the room nice and clean._

"_Now what?" they both shrugged._

"_I guess it's, more or less, ready."_

_They nodded and went to find Yamaki. He was busy announcing someone the winner of their match. When he heard the room was ready he gave the microphone to Ruki and left abruptly. About 5 minutes later he came back. Ryo gave him a look. He noticed this, and explained why he left._

"_I was calling Reika. She agreed to be an announcer. So just wait for her to show up, then you, Ruki, and the other girl can take half of the people into the other room."_

_He nodded and went to find Ruki. He told her and she groaned. When he asked her why she groaned, she told about the bitchy traffic. He then groaned and went to go sit with Jazelle and Yamaki._

Reika grumbled as she found the building. She weaved her way through the photographers, and somehow made it to the entrance of the building. Getting there was a bitch, traffic was a bitch. Then once she found the building it was a bitch to find parking. Geez, she was having a bitchy day. Once she got into the building she was shocked to find Ryo, Ruki, and some other girl standing there.

"Hey Reika. What took you so long?" she shrugged.

"Traffic."

The one girl, Jazelle, lead them all back to the prelims. Before entering she pulled Ryo aside.

"Hey, what am I supposed to be calling you?" he rolled his eyes.

"Aoshi."

"Ok… so what's this? Alias number 3?"

"Shut up."

She giggled and the two went inside.

* * *

Ruki was having an inner debate. She wanted to ask Reika about Felix, surely she'd know what he was up to lately. But the thing was… she didn't want to have to tell her why she needed this information. She frowned as she thought of her problems with Felix, it seemed that all her guy problems started up after she met him. Damn that fucker. Well, she thought, here goes nothing. 

"Hey Reika, have you heard from Felix lately?"

Reika, who walking with Aoshi, coughed in surprise.

"Um, no, not lately. I can give you his number, though." Ruki smiled.

"Thanks, you have no idea how much this means to me."

Reika smiled in return. It was nice to help her out like that. But what'll happen when she finds out the truth? Oh well, no time to think of that. Yamaki saw them enter and quickly got half of the people settled into the back room. Then he came over to the other announcers and gave them directions.

"Ok. Reika, you and me will watch these two tables. Ruki, you and Jazelle take the two in the back room. Aoshi, you stay in the back room as well. When a battle ends you have to get the winner back out inot this room. The losers of the battles must be escorted out of the building. When the back room battles are over I need you three back out here, no messing around. Especially no _momentary smokes_."

He directed his gaze to Ruki. She looked away. Once the plan was all figured out the five (people, dudes, announcers, yeah whatever) went to their assigned stations. After calming down the rowdy crowds, the battles resumed.

Yamaki watched the three teenagers go into the other room he sighed, it was going to be a long day. He checked his watch, 8:52 am. Damn, he thought, we've only been here for two hours. It was going to be a long day indeed…

* * *

Jazelle looked at the clock on the wall, 1:30. Great, she thought, my people are almost done. She patted her pocket and smiled to herself, they're still there. Phew. She looked at her match, it seemed another battle was over. 

"And Kazu wins!" she yelled.

Ruki looked over to Jazelle's table and rolled her eyes. Kazu was doing some sort of funky chicken victory dance. As much as she hated to admit it, Kazu would definitely be making it into the tournament. From the looks of it, they all would.

Takato was doing really good. She smirked as she remembered the time he got his ass kicked by Ramuh, hopefully he wouldn't make the same mistake again. Though she hadn't seen it, she knew that he was beating his opponents at a good rate.

Kazu… wasn't as bad as he appeared. She grinned, he was actually an average card player. Maybe if he weren't so annoying she'd give him a few tips. She thought about _her_ giving _him_ tips, nah… it would never happen.

Shuichon was doing exceptionally well. She had seen most of her matches and it made her proud. After all, she had taught her pretty much all that she knew. It would be interesting to see how she fared out in the tournament.

Jenrya. Yes, her bestest buddy Jenrya, was doing pretty damn good. At first in kind of irked her, he always acted as if he didn't really care too much about the card game. But damn, how was she to know her buddy could really play?

Of course, she knew that she'd be making it into the tournament. Not to sound boisterous or anything, but it was pretty much a given. After all, she'd have to "protect her crown." She rolled her eyes thinking about her "queenliness," she'd been the Digimon Queen for a good 5 years now. She was known far and wide, but yet it was the simple things she enjoyed the most.

"And Jeri wins! Hey Jazelle, how many matches do you have left?" she asked.

"None! I'm done!" Jazelle replied.

"I have two left. Can you take one of them?"

"Sure!"

Ryo came and brought the last competitors to Jazelle's table. After that he sighed. He had been busy as hell these last few hours; escorting people out, escorting people to the other room, being hit on by a few girls, and (not to mention) running errands for Ruki and Jazelle both. He sure as hell had a right to be tired.

"Hey Aoshi! Could ya get me some water?" Came Jazelle's voice.

He nodded and went to go get her water. Oh yes, he definitely had a right to be tired. Before he could go and get her water, though, Ruki caught up to him. He gave her a brief smile before going and giving Jazelle her water. Ruki, caught off guard by his smile, just stared at his back. He walked back to her with a smile on his face.

"Hey there. Finish all your matches already?" Ruki nodded.

"Well, that's good. Hang on, I had a message…"

She waited as he racked his memory.

"OH YEAH! Now I remember. Ruki, you're supposed to go and face your last opponent." Facefault.

"Ok… well, I'll be off then. Yeah, so… bye now!"

Ruki took off, Ryo watched her retreating figure. Neither of them noticed Jazelle, who was watching them with a mischievious glint in her eye. She had noticed all the flirting between the two. And, while she didn't want to interfere, she didn't want to wait for nature to take its own course. Hmmm, she thought, decisions decisions.

* * *

As Ruki went on a search for Yamaki she encountered Takato and Kazu. The two seemed to be focused on a match or thirteen. She shook her head at the pair and was about to move on, when Takato called out to her. 

"Ruki. Your match is coming up soon, right?" Ruki blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Yamaki now." He nodded.

"That's great. But, um, Ruki. Don't hold back ok?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Takato, I have no reason to hold back. So don't worry yourself."

He shrugged and went back to his game. Ruki walked off, continuing her search for Yamaki. She didn't get very far before she found Reika. Reika, of course, knew exactly where Yamaki was. After a brief moment of silence, Reika abruptly spoke up.

"Ruki, you know that you _absolutely_ can't lose the next match right?" Ruki glared at her.

"Reika, why the fuck are people acting like I'm gonna lose the next match?" Reika sighed.

"Look ahead of you."

Ruki was now even more confused then she was earlier. As the duo approached the rapidly growing crowd, Ruki had to crane her neck to see that, in fact, there was a little table made for the prelim finals. The crowd parted to give her room to get to the table. But immediately Ruki's eyes widened as…

She was met face to face with Shuichon "Suzi" Lee.


	19. Chapter 19

Author's Note: WHOO! I somehow managed to pull another chapter out of my ass. Actually, these were supposed to be two seperate chapters... but they were a little too short for my taste. So, boom, here's my combined chapter 19. I hope ya peoples enjoy!

Hey, if anyone knows how to work that stupid Quick Edit into bringing back my old squggly seperation lines could you please help me out?? Pretty please! Cry! I hate stupid Quick Edit!

Oh yeah. Also because of the great Quick Edit, my formatting sucks. You tell the damn thing to put in a line, it puts it in. You save, your line disappears. What the hell? No, not cool.

Ok, I'm really not sure when my next update will be. In the next couple of chapters I'll be bringing back Ryo and, while I know what I want to happen, I'm having a fat headache trying to put it into words. But yeah, celebrate, Ryo will soon return!!!

Disclaimer – Bloody hell, I hate these things.

* * *

Suzi looked up and smiled as Ruki made her way through the crowd. Yamaki hadn't yet told her who her competitor would be, but it was nice to know that her teacher would be there watching her. She watched as Ruki made her way to the front, but for some odd reason, she didn't seem to be happy. Oh well, happiness never was Ruki's strongest suit anyways. 

"Hey Ruki, you come to see my match?"

The two girl's eyes met for a brief moment. Ruki looked as if she was having an inner debate. Suzi, on the other hand, was trying to figure out why Ruki wouldn't know what to do. All she had to do was beat her next opponent, which should be easy for her. Unless… she gasped!

"Match 1! Ruki Makino vs. Shuichon Lee!" Yamaki yelled.

In that instant quite a few things happened. The crowd, of course, cheered. The Tamers all ran to the match as fast as they could. Suzi shook her head in disbelief. But Ruki… Ruki just stared. Stared straight ahead.

Suddenly everything made sense. All the warnings. Yamaki needing her immediately. Takato telling her not to hold back. Reika reminding her of the importance of her wins. Suddenly, in that moment, it all made sense. She looked up, knowing that some god was getting his kicks out of her predicament.

And so… the match began.

Early on it was pretty obvious that this wouldn't just be "another match" for the Digimon Queen. But the crowd slowly started building up when they noticed that Ruki was actually _losing_ her battle. Even more suprising was the fact that she was being brought down by a girl that was a "virtual unknown." After all, it was only Shuichon's first Digimon Tournament.

Suzi looked at her deck, then quickly darted her eyes to Ruki, trying to make eye contact. She was denied. Suzi sighed and went back to her deck. She knew that Ruki was holding back, several times now Ruki had pointedly not attacked her when she easily could have. And it was pissing her off.

* * *

Ryo shook his head in disappointment. Like everyone else, he noticed that Ruki was fighting a losing battle. But unlike most of the other people, he could tell that it wasn't unintentional. She was holding back. She was _trying_ to lose. True, it had been a good 6 years since he had battled Ruki, but he was about 98 positive she was a much better card player then Suzi. Had she really been trying, she could have beaten Suzi a long time ago. 

Taking a better look at Ruki, Ryo came to a startling conclusion. Ruki didn't _know_ she was holding back. Either that or she simply didn't notice. She seemed to be… oh what was the word, dazed? It was as if she were detached from her persona (did that even make sense???), like she wasn't all the way there. All he could do was wonder why. Could a match really make Ruki not go all out? Ryo seriously doubted it.

Takato sighed as he watched the two combatants. He had been one of the first people to figure out that this match would begin the finals.

"_Kazu. Sometimes I worry about you." Takato shook his head._

_Kazu shrugged and walked off. Looking at everyone he noticed that they all were not only nervous, but preoccupied as well. Kazu and Kenta were playing 'Bloody Knuckles,' Jenrya was meditating, and Ruki and Suzi were both trying to teach Juri how to play the card game… to no avail._

"_Arg! I'll never understand this!" Juri yelled in frustration._

"_Oh c'mon Juri, it's not that hard." Ruki compromised._

"_Really! Look at me, I've only been playing for about a week and look how far I've gotten."_

_Suzi had a point there, Takato had to admit. Although the girl had only just learned how to play not to long ago, she was a truly gifted player. Watching her now, Takato was pretty positive that she would make the top 5, at least. Hell, only 2 more battles until the real thing… HANG ON! Two more battles… _

"_OH FUCK!"_

_Jenrya opened an eye, surprised at Takato's outburst. He looked at Takato as if asking him for an answer, but Takato wasn't looking at him. He was looking at the girls. Jenrya shrugged and went back to his meditating._

Takato, once again, looked at the match and sighed. Never would he have guessed that Ruki would be dethroned. Especially in the preliminary finals. It always seemed that Ruki would either give up the throne herself; or she would go out with glory, barely getting beat by some immensely strong competitor in the final match. But not in the preliminary finals, and _definitely_ not by some kid that had just learned how to play the game.

* * *

Poor, poor Jenrya was in one hell of a bad situation. Here he was watching his little sister clashing with his best friend. No matter what the outcome of this battle was, it would be bad for him. Man, he thought, today just keeps getting better and better. 

On one hand, there was Ruki. If she lost, he would be the one who she'd come complaining to. As much as he loved giving out advice, this would be a subject that would be hard for him to approach. How would he be able to help her figure out why she lost; when the girl she lost to was the very same girl she had trained?

Then, there was Shuichon. His sister. If she lost… it was hard for him to tell what her reaction would be. On one hand, she might get extremely pissed and want to murder everything, and anything, she came across. But, on the other hand, she might just shrug it off as if it were nothing. Jenrya seriously hoped for the latter.

* * *

Suzi put down another card in frustration. Ruki apparently noticed the change in the younger girl, and sent her a questioning glance. Suzi just glared right back at her. After another minute or two the two broke off their staring contest… and went back to their decks. Ruki used a basic attack, Shuichon dodged it with ease. 

"Ruki! What's the matter with you?!?" Ruki looked up for a second.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Then why the fuck are you holding back?!"

Ruki looked up in defiance; and, for a moment, the spark was back in her eyes.

"Me? Holding back? Never."

"Ruki. I've been watching you play this game for a good few years now, I think I'd know is you were holding back or not."

Ruki sighed, shrugged, and went back to her deck. She wasn't holding back. She wouldn't… she _didn't_. Even if her opponent was a close friend; she didn't hold back. _Then why are you?_ Ruki blinked in surprise. Great, she thought, now I'm talking to myself. _Why are you holding back?_ Ruki shook her head. Then she looked back at the game and nearly gagged. She had held back. She had held back from the beginning of the match!

"So I really was holding back." She whispered to herself.

"What was that?" Suzi asked. Ruki ignored her.

"Sorry, Suzi. You're a great card player, but I'm not ready to give up my title. Let's finish this."

"Yes, let's." Suzi smiled.

Within an unspecified amount of time after Ruki's declaration of victory the struggle for control went haywire. One minute Ruki would be on top; the next minute, Suzi was. For Ruki, it was pretty hard to keep control due to all the mistakes she had made earlier. Each blunder turned out to be a bite to the ass. But eventually, Ruki's blunders ran out… along with Suzi's luck.

"Ok, Ladydevimon, take out Leomon. And I'm adding an agility power up to Renamon, so now she can have twice the attacks. Renamon, destroy MagnaAngemon."

And like that it was over. With one simple move, Ruki had ended a battle that could've been her ultimate downfall. The crowd shook their heads and dispersed, knowing that Ruki still had her edge, and slightly fearing that she would beat _them_ to a pulp when it was their turn to take her on. But they immediately shut up and inched their way closer to the battle when they noticed that they two combatants were talking.

"Shuichon, you are one hell of a card player." Suzi shook her head.

"Nah, I just had an amazing teacher."

The two shook hands and walked off. The next match had to start.

* * *

Suzi walked back to the tamers with a smile on her face. The group blinked as she just came, nodded, got a drink, and sat down. Kazu, looking as confused as one could get, shushed the group away so he could get a word in with her. He sweatdropped as he noticed that Jenrya was glaring daggers at him. He gulped and took the seat across from the burgundy haired beauty (that sounds cool, heh). She looked up and smiled. Then, she noticed that the two of them were alone and sent Kazu an inquiring look. 

"Oh… uh, I told them to go away for a while." She blinked.

"O-kay. Why, may I ask?" he gave her a look.

"Listen, Suzi. I know you pretty well. You can't be happy with getting beaten right before the tournament started."

"Yeah, true. But what can I say? You win some, you lose some…"

Kazu tried to retort, but Suzi quickly shushed him and continued.

"Listen, Kazu. This really isn't a huge disappointment to me. It's not as if I entered this thing to become the next "Digimon Queen" anyway. Heh, you could say I had alterior motives, I guess." She smirked. Kazu raised an eyebrow.

"Alterior motives?"

"Yup. You see, there's a prize to the top competitors in this thing. I wanted in on the prize."

"I see. So wouldn't you be bummed about not getting in on the prize?" she shrugged.

"Not really. The way I figure, I'll sweet talk Yamaki into letting me come along."

Kazu raised his eyebrows. He considered telling her how wrong her last statement had sounded, but then briefly cringed as he remembered his last deduction about Yamaki and another certain female tamer. Who knows? Maybe he was just hearing things. Before he had the chance to shrug he heard a rude, impatient coughing from behind him. He turned and came face to face with Jenrya.

"Oh. Hey Jen, want a seat?"

"Yeah. Sure." Suzi nodded to her brother.

"Hey, where'd everyone else go?"

"Bah, to watch the next match… I think."

Kazu gulped as Jenrya just next to him. It's not like it was hard enough to like a girl that was so much younger than him, he had to worry about her crazy kung-fu brother as well! He tried shrugging it off as Jenrya gave him a scrutinizing look. He just blinked in response. Neither of the two boys had even noticed that Suzi had gotten up and left.

* * *

Ryo hustled his way through the crowd as he tried to get back to his post. Which really wasn't the easiest task when you were making your way through a giant crowd. Sure, Ruki and Shuichon's battle was great. But this wonderful cluster of adoring fans really wasn't all that great. Luckilly enough, he eventually found an opening and went for it... and sure enough, Ruki was already waiting for him. 

"And where were you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Oh nowhere..."

For some unknown reason he didn't want her to know that he had been watching her match. He couldn't quite figure out why, but he didn't. As he looked at her he noticed, with a grin, that she had gotten her composure back. Ms. Digimon Queen has returned!

"Alrighty Ruki, all you have to do is pick out a ball, I'll take down the number." She shrugged.

"Ok, seems simple enough."

She put her hand in the tub of balls and came out with one. She checked the number, 246, and passed it to Aoshi. It was then that she noticed the humonguous board that was behind him. It was pretty big, like it could cover a wall. Aoshi didn't really seem to notice, as he went to the very end of it and wrote down her name in slot 246. He looked over at her and saw her staring at the board, explanation time.

"Ok, what you see here is the tournament board. Yes, it is big. This will be used in the actual tournament too. Pretty much, all it does is tell who has to battle next. I know you've seen those kind of boards before, this is just a giant one. I'm not quite sure about how much you know about the stadium we're using, but trust me, this thing will definitely come in handy."

Ruki nodded and contemplated his words. Then a revelation hit her, she really didn't know anything about the stadium they'd be at. To think, she'd been with the core staff for the past 2 weeks and yet she didn't know anything about the playing field. All she knew was that JOL would be making it from scratch. Before she had a chance to ask Aoshi anything about it, though, Yamaki called her over.

"Ruki! We need another announcer, you know!" Ruki grumbled.

"Well, I guess I have to head back now. Have fun with your board."

As she walked away Ryo shook his head at her. Jesus, he thought, fessing up to who I am is gonna be pretty damn hard. In the back of his mind, he knew he was fearing tomorrow. Yamaki had already told him how he planned on realeasing him to the public, and it really wouldn't be pretty. The press would be everywhere, not to mention that Ruki would be severely pissed off. Well hell, he thought, I would be pissed off too if she did something like that to me. He nodded to himself. Tonight he would make everything right again.

"It's been awhile, Ryo Akiyama." Ryo paled considerably.

Gulping, he turned around to face the person who had seen through his alias. From a young age he had trained himself to not be shocked by anything. But nothing could prepare him for the sight that was before his eyes.

"Sh-Shuichon!"


	20. Chapter 20

Author's Note: Oh geez, I'm horrible. Yet again I had shit prewritten yet I was far too lazy to upload it onto ff.n, sorry folks! But anyways, as you can tell, I have updated and that's all thanks to my new buddies american idiot 101 and Chiban-chan! Thanks for getting my ass to update!

Disclaimer – I really hate these.

* * *

"Sh-Shuichon!"

If the younger girl had a reaction to his shock she didn't let it be known. Ryo suddenly got the feeling that he was in trouble. Seeing Suzi narrow her eyes didn't help his cause any. But being a smart guy did. Seeing that Suzi had some stuff she probably kept bottled in for a good few years, he let her speak without interrupting. She sighed.

"Man oh man, I never thought I'd see you again. Now you're here and I have no clue what to say. Ryo, I've always respected you. You were the only person to really acknowledge the fact that I, although very young, was a tamer. I'll never forget that. To some extent I still do have respect for you. But I guess the point of this whole shpeal (my own happy word) is to ask you a question. I have no desire to figure out WHY you left. I just want to know if you had any idea how much it impacted us; how much it impacted Ruki?"

Suzi didn't fail to notice the flicker of pain that crossed his eyes when Ruki was mentioned. She also didn't fail to notice the look of regret and sadness that came next. So, she thought, he really doesn't have a clue. She sighed as she realized that she would wind up being the one to fill in all of Ryo's blanks.

"No, Suzi, I don't know. Do you think you can help me out there?"

"Sit down, Ryo... oh sorry, Aoshi. I've got to cram 4 years into your head and its not gonna be fun."

* * *

Jazelle smiled to herself. She had noticed that Ruki and Aoshi had been hitting it off. And throughout the day things only seemed to get better. It's kind of annoying, she thought, that she had nobody to share the news with. She had tried Yamaki, but he had made it crystal clear that he didn't give a "holy piece of shit" about what she was "blabbering on about." Hahaha, she was discouraged to say the least. Hooray! Ruki was coming back! 

"Hey. I'm on break, Reika took over." Yamaki just nodded.

Ruki sat down and noticed that Jazelle kept giving her these weird smiles. At first she had tried ignoring it, thinking that Jazelle was being a regular ditzy cheerleader. But after the next few minutes she was just about ready to snap. Damn cheerleaders and their stupid ways.

"Ok. What the hell are you smiling at me for?" Silence.

"Well?" More silence... and then.

"Aoshi's been talking to that chick for awhile." Facefault.

"What's your point?"

"Well, you can't really see her anymore due to the crowd, but I caught a good glimpse of her earlier. She's cute. I think you have competition." Hearing this, Yamaki chuckled.

Both girls turned to face him, amazed that he had made a sound. But, in true Yamaki fashion, he had already turned away. Ruki chuckled as she noticed Yamaki's hands shaking a little bit. He had one hell of a nic-fix going. Damn, now that she thought about it, she was craving a cancer stick as well. Trying to ignore it, she went back to Jazelle. But suddenly the thought of a cigarette was empowering and all of Jazelle's odd attempts to get her jealous of Aoshi were just starting to tick her off. Seething in her seat Ruki just kept repeating in her head that Jazelle was just doing what she thought was right. Somehow, it wasn't working.

"Ruki. There's some things I need to discuss with you concerning tomorrow. ALONE."

What do ya know? Saved by Yamaki. She looked his way and nodded. The two of them making their way through the crowd to a place where they could talk in private. Humorously enough, Japan's two most icy and composed celebrities took off at a dead run the minute they were out of the public eye.

Unbeknowst to them one person saw. This person happened to be looking out the window and saw Yamaki and Ruki literally jump into the limousine outside. Raising an eyebrow he turned to the person sitting next to him.

"Jenrya! Dude! Are you SURE that there's nothing going on between Yamaki and Ruki." Without even looking up he replied

"Yes Kazu, I'm sure."

Back in the Yamaki Limo our favorite two mean people were smoking (AGAIN). Huzzah to cancer. Ruki looked over at Yamaki and, to her suprise, she noticed that something was on his mind. Why just a month ago she knew that she'd never had been able to read Yamaki like he was Jenrya or something. Weird, it seemed as if they're time smoking together ended up with them starting to understand each other (And take it from me, an actual smoker, you really do get to know people this way).

"So, uh, what's on your mind?"

Yamaki barely heard her. BARELY. But seeing as he did, he abruptly lifted his head. And somehow Ruki just knew that his eyes had widened underneath those shades of his. Yet he seemed kind of reluctant to answer. Odd... very odd. Yamaki was pretty well known for being quite blunt whenever he had anything to say. So, why would he suddenly be hesitant? The answer to that question wouldn't become clear to Ruki until the following day, though.

"Ruki, I'm not really sure whether or not I should be asking you this; but what would you do if Ryo ever came back?"

"I... I... well, I don't have an answer to that. Why ask something like that Yamaki?" he noticed her sudden mood change and switched tactics

"I don't know. I've always been curious; you two seemed to be very close. His leaving had to have affected you, so I wanted to know how you would feel if he ever came back."

His closing statement had Ruki thinking. She knew that there was more to Yamaki's "curiosity" then he let on. But she didn't feel like thinking about that at the moment. Ryo... _returning_. Well, of course his leaving affected her. But his return was something she never really anticipated. It seemed like a lost cause. Had it been a month ago she knew what her reaction would be. Anger. But lately her world had been thrown upside down. With Felix and everything. True, their would've-been courtship wasn't very long, but there was just something about him, something had been awakened in her. When she was with him she had felt whole, like the missing part of her, that left along with Ryo, had been returned. She now knew that she didn't need Ryo to feel that way. The memory of him had been reduced to shreds, truth be told. Now how to put that into words?

"You look like you could use a second." Yamaki broke the silence by offering her more cancer.

"Do you really want to know how I'd feel? It might not make much sense, though." She accepted the cig and lit it.

"That's fine. We've got time."

* * *

Hours later the final match had been announced and the preliminaries were officially over. Yamaki was on the stage giving a speech about where the tournament was to be held and the rules and regulations. Jazelle sat listening, giving the occasional yawn. Geez, this was boring. Looking to her left and right she realized that she wouldn't be able to talk to anyone either. Ruki seemed to be caught in her own world; while Aoshi looked downright depressed. She wondered what was going on, those two seemed to have been hitting it off. But now... dead silence. Creepy. 

"Hey, um, Ms. Reika?" she seemed to be the only normal one around here

"Yes Jazelle? And it's Reika, no Ms... it makes me feel old."

"Oh ok. Well, I was just wondering if it was ok for me to leave now." Reika nodded

"Yeah sure, go ahead. Thanks for helping, that was really nice."

As Jazelle was leaving, Yamaki came back to the group. After taking a look at the two Tamers he quickly made a decision. Clean up was about to begin, but these two looked like they really needed a rest. So he talked to his limo driver and arranged for the two to be taken home while he and Reika did the cleaning.

"Don't worry about cleaning up. You two go home and get ready for tomorrow. My limo is waiting outside."

Ruki and Ryo nodded and made their way to the exit door. But, much to their chagrin, the entire Tamers group was there waiting. Ryo had totally forgot about making plans with Takato (the arcade thingy) and gave him the "sorry, but how about another time" line. It seemed to work. So the Tamers bid Ruki farewell as she climbed into the limousine alongside Ryo.

"Penny for your thoughts." Ruki grinned. Ryo smiled wanly.

"Keep your damned penny. So, you really want to know what's on my mind?" Ruki nodded.

"Why?" To that Ruki smiled

"You were there when I needed to talk. I wanna repay the favor." Their eyes locked and he slowly nodded.

"Very well. It's about that girl I told you about. I told you I had moved away a few years ago, right? Well, I never got the chance to tell her goodbye. I kinda pulled a disappearing act. Today I found one of my old friends. She told me how my girl had been doing. I didn't realize I had hurt her so bad... God, I'm such a fucking asshole!"

Ruki sat quietly while Aoshi poured his heart out to her. By the time he finished she realized that she genuinely felt bad for this guy. Though he was 18, his tone spoke of a little boy who had just gotten his puppy ran over. She thought she might have been tearing up, but those thoughts left her head the minute she saw the silent tears running down Aoshi's face.

"Hey. C'mon now. Crying's for wussies right? Oh geez, this ain't working. Well, I'm not very good at this kind of thing, so don't blame me if this sucks. Now come on, give me a hug. Shhhh, it's ok."

"I don't deserve this kind of kindness from you." Ruki slapped her head and started shaking Aoshi back and forth

"Shut up! I'll be nice to you if I damn well please. And it just so happens that I think that life has dealt you a tough hand. So guess what? I think you could use some kindness right about now!"

"Thank you." Aoshi smiled and promptly fell asleep

The rest of the ride to Ruki's was spent in silence. Sure, Ryo was passed out and using Ruki's lap as a pillow. Sure, Ruki was blushing like a friggin tomato. But, she figured, there were definitely worse things that could be happening. Looking at Aoshi, she once again realized how much he resembled Ryo. A fact that seemingly refused to die down. God dammit! Stupid Ryo. But thoughts of Ryo were put on hold as the sleeping Aoshi decided to remind Ruki of his presence.

"Ruki... I'm sor... ry."


	21. Chapter 21

Author's Note: Ok, I'm also adding this because I feel extra bad. I don't think this chapter is as good as my last one. But eh, it's a necessity. Oh yeah, and sorry to do this (really I am) but this chapter marks the RETURN OF FELIX! Don't worry, I swear that after this I will let him die. Even better, along with your reviews could you send me your most original Felix deaths and I'll see what I can do.

Disclaimer – Don't own jack shit.

* * *

All to soon the Yamaki Limo reached Ruki's house. Ruki, of course, felt the car stopping. And a split second later there was the driver opening the door for her. She was about to get out, but then suddenly remembered Aoshi; who's head she had just dropped into the seat. The fall woke him up. As Ryo looked around he quickly figured out where they were and what was going on.

"Can you give us 10 minutes, please?" The driver nodded and closed the door.

Ruki was a bit startled at his request, but stayed put anyway. But then she suddenly figured out the she was _home_. The place where her mother resides. The place that she considers a prison. True to Ruki fashion, a cigarette was lit even before Ryo started speaking.

"Ruki, before I forget. There's a package in here that's addressed to you."

"Oh really?"

She looked at the package with confusion. She didn't notice this when she was in here earlier. But then again, she didn't notice it the entire ride over here either. Must've been hidden. Oh well, she wondered who'd want to give her a present, though. Hang on! Could it be... Felix!

"Let me see that!"

She opened the gift in record speed and looked to see what was inside. A jacket? At first she looked at the overcoat in confusion. Then she took a better look. Early on she could tell it was custom made, the black denim felt like real quality denim. Not to mention that a few of her broken heart symbols circled the cuffs in a deep scarlet. On back there was a big picture of a heart engulfed in chains, with a dagger somehow finding its way through the chains to pierce the heart (it's a tattoo I saw online, I just thought it'd be awesome for Ruki). Then to finish it off, the breast-pocket had a single, red rose (horizontally) and her name written above it in a dark green to match the stem of the rose.

As she was examining the breast-pocket she noticed a piece of paper hiding inside. She quickly unfolded it to see the note inside.

_Ruki,_

_I really hope you like the jacket. It's the least I can do for ditching you and not answering any of your calls. Thanks to a few good friends, I made sure this got to you today. The day before the tournament begins. Well, I just wanted to know if you could ever forgive me?For everything. If possible, could you come talk to me once the tournament ends tomorrow. I'm sorry I can't talk to you sooner, but I'm gonna be really busy tonight and during the tournament. Oh! And don't worry, somehow, I know you'll know where to find me tomorrow. Well, until then!_

_-Felix _

* * *

"Oh, Ruki dear! Come see Mommy!" Ruki cringed at the tone in her Mother's voice, but complied anyway

"Yes Mom?"

"Oh, Honey! Why didn't you tell me?"

Ruki blanched as she noticed what her Mom was so focused on. The posters. The posters for the Tournament in which she was looking nice, wearing make-up, and posing for a camera (sorta). So that's why her Mom wasn't pissed at her for coming in the door at 8:00 at night (just go with me on this one, ok). But now, it seemed, she had bigger problems on her hands. Her Mom thought that she was a model!

"I'm soooooo proud of you Honey. I can see that you're FINALLY following in my footsteps!"

"But Mom--"

"Bad photographer, though. A model smiles, not grins maniacally."

"Mom--"

"It's about time you gave up that whole card player thing. The novelty wore off quickly... and it's just so boyish. Oh well, that's the past! The future is now, and that's why--"

"MOM!" Rumiko once again ignored her

"--you have a photo shoot lined up for all day tomorrow!"

"NO! NO! NOOOOO!" Ruki screamed at the top of her lungs

Rumiko drew her hand to her mouth, apalled at her daughter's behavior. Yet, she knew that Ruki screaming meant something bad. Sensing that it had something to do with her photo shoot, Rumiko quickly narrowed her eyes. There was no way Ruki was missing this photo shoot, dammit!

"What was that, Ruki?" Rumiko used her super calm voice

"I'm not a model. Never will be a model. So cancel that photo shoot, there's something much more important for me to do tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be defending my title. I'm the Queen of the Digimon Card Game. People from all over the globe respect me. So now I ask, why is it I can't seem to get any respect from my very own mother?"

"Because you have done nothing to earn my respect. Now get out of my sight and get some sleep. You are going to the photo shoot tomorrow, contrary to what you might think. Goodnight."

Ruki looked her mother dead in the eye before turning around and heading up to her room. So angry was she that she didn't even notice her grandmother telling her that her laundry was in the washer and that Jenrya had called. Now Ruki was always respectful to her grandmother, and it was because of this that she knew that Ruki didn't mean to blow her off intentionally. So she watched her grand daughter enter her bedroom; then went back to whatever she was doing (be creative).

Inside her room Ruki finally let out the tears she had been holding in since leaving her mother in the living room. A photo shoot! She would have to miss the competition of a lifetime for a photo shoot! Fuck no! But as soon as she thought she had a crystal clear escape plan she heard Rumiko's high heels clomping up the stairs; and, sure enough, she heard her door being locked from the outside.

"Sorry, Ruki dear, but you'll thank me for this one day." She heard her mom's voice from outside the door.

As the sound of high heels faded away Ruki, once again, burst into tears. How the hell was she supposed to escape now? Come to think of it, when the hell did her mom switch her doorknob? She knew, for a fact, that her door did not have a lock. After a few minutes of inspection Ruki came to a startling conclusion. Her doorknob wasn't changed. A lock had just been added to the front side of the door. Great. Now she really was stuck. And jumping out of her window was a no. The fall would most definitely kill her. Arg!

Ruki laid on her bed, knowing that more tears were on the way. As the tears fell she spotted her coat from Felix. Grabbing it towards herself she figured that she might as well try it on. Much to her suprise, it fit her just perfectly. She laid back down and smiled, lost in her own thoughts. Knowing that somehow, someway, she was busting out tomorrow.

* * *

At 6:00 in the morning the Yamaki Limo was in action. With the tournament starting at 1:00 that very same day it would be kind of peculiar to see the infamous limousine up and running this early in the morning. But oh well, there it was, rolling away. After leaving Yamaki's apartment the poor limo had a few more stops. First it went off to some house and picked up a teenage boy. Next it went to Barstucks, the best coffee place in town, and picked up an assortment of different drinks. Now the limo was heading for another destination. And that brings us up to current.

* * *

"Shit, it 5:45!" Ruki whispered to herself

Suddenly wishing she had paid more attention when her grandma mentioned her clothes were in the wash, Ruki was stuck. She was locked in her room, and had no clothes to wear. Sure, there was her outfit from yesterday. But, seeing as she was the Digimon Queen, she had always made sure she looked amazing at the actual tournament. So yesterday casualties are out. Now desperate, Ruki went to the closet for the millionth time. But instead of looking at the racks she looked to the floor for help this time. And suprise suprise, there was one outfit that didn't go to the wash.

Her jaw dropped when she saw what outfit had been left alone. It was the damn suit she made those damned posters in. Red boots, green thigh highs, black skirt, grey top, and the damned red chocker. Oh yeah, this was the outfit all right. Why me, Ruki thought, why me? But before she could get an answer her cell phone started ringing. Ruki quickly picked up, hoping her mom didn't hear the ring.

"We'll be there in 5. You better be ready. Dialtone."

As soon as she realized what was said Ruki literally jumped into the outfit she had been doubting only a minute earlier. Deciding that there wasn't enough time to put her hair up, Ruki just brushed it out and left it down. She looked out the window and grabbed her jacket as she saw the Yamaki Limo approaching. She waited for them to come to a complete stop and open the skyroof. Once that was done she looked down and gulped, suddenly wishing that Renamon could be there right now. This whole jumping out of the window thing suddenly seemed a lot harder than it did when she thought it up. As if someone were reading her thoughts the phone rang again.

"Ruki. As much as you're wanted at this tournament, I can't wait all day for you. Jump now or we will be leaving."

"Fine, I'll see you in a minute... and you better have a cigarette waiting for me."

Ruki looked down again and swallowed. How the fuck was she afraid of some stupid thing like this? She was the Digimon Queen! But did it really have to be so high? It seemed as if Yamaki had finally run out of patience and Ruki saw the car starting back up. Well, it's do or die time. With that in her head Ruki closed her eyes and jumped out her window. She closed her eyes tight and braced herself for a very ungraceful landing. It never came. She opened her eyes and realized that she had been caught in mid-air. It was pretty dark in the limo but she saw a little bit of her savior. Low ponytail. Shades.

"Felix!"

"Hi Ruki. I'm happy you like the jacket." He put her down and the limo took off

"Yeah, I love it. But about that note, well I--"

"No Ruki. Not now. Please, just wait until after the tournament." Confused, she nodded

Yamaki cleared his throat, getting Ruki's attention. She then noticed that he was offering her coffee and a cigarette. She graciously accepted both. Lighting her cigarette she noticed that Felix seemed to be caught up in his own world... either that or he was really tired. Hmm, maybe a mixture of both? Who knows. She continued pondering it up until she fell asleep.

When Ruki reawakened she noticed that the Yamaki Limo was parked in the middle of the woods! Thinking that the limousine might have been stolen while she was sleeping, Ruki sat straight up... and turned as red as one can fucking get. Dammit! What is it with her and falling asleep on Felix! She heard chuckling from her side and knew that only one person's chuckle would sound that horrid when she was embarassed.

"Hi Alice."

"Hi there Ruki. You look comfy. You see, after you dozed off Reika kept you from falling over. But then I guess she got dropped off at the stadium to do last minute check-ups. So Felix offered to keep your body steady. By the time I was picked up you two were both in Lalaland. Like this."

"I see. But, why are we in the middle of the woods?" Alice looked shocked for a second.

"Hang on... you didn't know, oh yeah. Well we've had Shibumi helping us out. And of course he likes his privacy. So where better for him to live then in a cottage in the woods!"

"Uh-huh. So how did he manage to get to JOL from here?" Alice shrugged

"I think he had rented out a place in the city or something."

"Ah, makes sense."

The two sat in silence waiting for Yamaki to return. Ruki looked around the limo and noticed that it was REALLY friggin dark in there. It was so dark that it made Alice's blonde hair look like she was your average brunette. Crazy. Well, after about 15 more minutes the two men made it to the limo. After brief hellos and catching up (on Ruki's part), a plan was made. So somewhere around 10:30 Ruki was dropped off at Jenrya's.

"Okay Ruki, it's 10:30 now. Opening ceremonies start at 11:30, so you should get to the arena around 11:00... to entertain the press, you know."

"Alright. I still don't see why I can't just have a ride to the arena now, though."

"We've already been over this. We've all been planning a suprise for this tournament. You can't be go to the arena yet since we're still preparing."

"Rrrrrrrrr... fine."

Ruki stepped out of the car and onto Jenrya's lawn. With one last wave she closed the door to the limousine. Then, out of nowhere, the driver suddenly floored the gas pedal and the went the Yamaki Limo. But, Ruki swore, she knew she had heard a collective sigh go throughout the limo before it sped off.


	22. Chapter 22

Author's Note: Alright! An update! Well, sorry this one took a while. You see, I had this scene in my head and couldn't find a way to put it into words. I hope I did ok. What can I say? Review please! I swear, you reviewers are what keep me going with this. So... thank you.

P.S. RYO RETURNS!

Disclaimer – Don't own jack

* * *

"So you jumped! From your window into a limousine you jumped! Wow, that's so awesome Ruki!" 

Ruki smiled as Suzi reacted to her tale. Jenrya was currently getting ready. Well, what could he do? The Digimon Queen comes over and says we leave in 15. Poor guy. As Ruki and Shuichon continue talking amongst theirselves Jenrya, with a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth, suddenly sticks his head out of the bathroom door.

"Hey Ruki, do you know anything about the stadium?" Ruki thought for a moment.

"Whoa. You know, I really don't have a clue."

And suddenly it hit her. She really didn't know a damn thing about the 'mysterious arena.' Sure, it had been in newspapers. TONS of them. Shit, all that _was_ actually known was a secret to the staff. Somehow or another Yamaki paid to have a ginormous sheet cover the place. Sure, people tried getting a peak at what was to be nothing less than an engineering miracle. Though it was pretty obvious that the even the papparazzi couldn't infiltrate Yamaki's base. Ruki herself had seen the covered arena a few times. From what she could tell, it was going to be something that wouldn't be forgotten in a while. And how in the world Yamaki's stadium was actually finished in only 2 weeks? She had no friggin' clue. Yamaki had to have nothing less than miracle workers on his staff; that and a legend.

* * *

"Hurry UP!" 

After bidding Suzi farewell the two competitors started the trek to the stadium. Jenrya looking calm as ever, and Ruki chain-smoking her lungs out. Jenrya, finally having enough of Ruki's second hand smoke, looked to his best friend and decided to give her a pep talk before the press got to her.

"Ruki chill. Yes, there will be reporters. TONS. But its not like you haven't done this before. Now chill, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Losing." She answered immediately

"Ooooookay. Now what do you think is the best thing that could happen?"

"Hmmmmmm. Well, the press focusing in on someone else would be pretty nice." She laughed

Jenrya smiled. Ruki would be ok, she just needed some words of comfort. His eyes turned dark as he thought of how bad it was going to be for her when she got home tonight. Being as close to Ruki as he was, he had indirrectly crossed paths with Rumiko's anger many times over and knew that it wasn't exactly the best environment for Ruki. But hey, what could he do about it? Tell someone that Rumiko Makino, the famous super model, was a part time crazed lunatic. Oh sure, that would work.

"It's this thing right up ahead."

"Ok. I'll go sign in now, but I'll find you later."

"Fine fine fine."

"Oh, and Ruki, don't be worried. You're tons scarier than some idiots armed with cameras."

Ruki smiled as Jenrya kissed her cheek and left. Alone, she walked the last block and sighed at what she saw. In front of the giant sheet there was a stage, and on this stage was Yamaki, trying to fend off the press and smoke at the same time. As Ruki took a look at the reporters she suddenly noticed that it wasn't only Japanese reporters. There were people from all over the globe! And it suddenly made her realize, again, how big Digimon was... and how big of a celebrity she really was.

"Well, here we go again."

With that, Ruki dropped her cigarette butt on the ground and walked right into the depths of hell itself.

* * *

"Look! It's the Digimon Queen!" 

"Ruki! Over here! Look this way!"

Okay. Smile. You can do this. These three phrases were all that was contained into Ruki's mind at the current moment. She looked around and saw a tv camera zooming in on her face and the press. Then suddenly a light went on in her head. A way to make this press shit easier... and who said she couldn't mess with them while she was at it?

"Ok, listen up. I'll let you people interview me, but only if one person talks at a time."

For a couple minutes after that the reporters talked amongst themselves, debating on what to do and whether or not this was a good idea. Ruki saw this and took quick action.

"This interview can go worldwide!" SILENCE.

"Well, ask me already." That got the reporters' attention

"How do feel about the upcoming tournament?"

"Confident."

"There's no one that you're worried about in the least?"

"Not at all."

"Okay then. How does it feel to live in your house? With you being famous and your mom being a worldwide supermodel?"

"Charming. Since my mom is so famous we don't see each other much. Personally, I like it that way."

"Now that's a mean thing to say."

"No it's not."

"How was it working with Yamaki Mitsuo, the CEO of Japan Online."

That's it, Ruki thought, keep asking me these kind of questions. As long as the questions pertained to her experiences then she could tweak the answers and mess with the press. HA! Revenge for all the damn times she was harassed. Oh yes, lies, the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.

"Well, I thought he was a charming fellow. We smoked a lot and took joyrides in his limo. But, for the record, he said it bummed him out that he didn't get as much attention from the press as he used to."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well, would you know anything about the stadium that his company created?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Well, do you have any plans for the future?"

"Of course. I'm debating on whether to start modeling full time or to open my own tobacco company and become a billionaire."

"Really! Tell us more about this."

"Um... no."

"Well then let's move on to you in the present. Your in the middle of your teenage years, how is it treating you?"

"Hmm, I'm popular in high school. I have tons of money. I've picked up a nicotine habit. My best friend's a dude. Oh! And I've grown a rack. Anything else?"

Ruki smiled as she knew what question would be coming next. The question she always hated. But, just this once, it was the one question she was looking forward to. She also knew that the answer that she gave would throw the press into a frenzy. She was Japan's sweetheart, the girl that all teenage boys fantasized about. Oh well, their problem.

"Are you currently seeing someone?" She put a cute look on her face

"Oh I dunno, maybe."

* * *

Reika smiled as she stood in the middle of the stage. On one side, there was Yamaki looking like he wanted to shoot every camera in sight. Then, on the other side of the stage was Ruki, who looked like she was having way too much fun with her interview. She thought of what was coming up soon and gulped. Oh well, that was later. Now it was time to get this show on the road. She grabbed a microphone and turned it on. 

"Excuse me. May I have everyone's attention, please! Welcome to the Digimon Championships. To kick off our opening ceremonies may I invite Ruki Makino to the stage?"

Applause. There was always applause. Ruki gave a grimace as she went to the mic. Although she knew that she would be making a speech, she was never one for the whole 'talking in front of crowds' thing. But, of course, seeing Jenrya in the front row giving her a thumbs up gave her just enough energy to go through with it.

"Hello everyone, and welcome. Well, we've come to this time of year again. The time where dreams are made reality, and others' dreams are crushed. I personally congratulate you on making it this far and wish every competitor the best of luck. But, for a moment, I'd like you all to reflect on why you chose to play this game. For some, it's cool. For others, it's an escape from reality. But for most, we play to remember the events that took place here years ago. For those people, I thank you personally. I just want you all to take two simple words to the heart, never forget. Thank you."

Yamaki was among the people who gave the Digimon Queen a standing ovation. He knew what was coming next. And it's something he was slowly starting to dread. As he sat with his staff he looked among them and could see the nervousness in all their eyes. Oh well, he thought, too late to turn back now.

"And now let me introduce the man that made this possible, Yamaki Mitsuo, CEO of Japan Online!" It was time to face the music.

"Thank you Ruki. Well, at last the day has come and Yamaki Stadium will be unveiled. I would like to welcome you to my masterpiece, a link between engineering and electronics. Unveil the stadium!"

The curtain came off and the gasps of amazement could have been heard from miles away. Sure it was a stadium, but a super computer at the same time. It looked the old Roman Colliseum except for the exerior. Lights, wires, and metal were everywhere! It seemed as if the creators had decided on keeping the computer image alive, the outside was coated in a super glass/clear plastic material. On the inside there were build in seats in a light grey color to match the computer look (just try to imagine the colloseum digitized and that's pretty much what I'm trying to describe). A modern miracle, and something that would definitely be put into record books everywhere.

"Amazing, isn't it? Believe it or not, this was made in only two weeks by only five people, myself included. Then again, I guess it isn't hard to believe. This is just one giant computer with an outer shell. So, naturally, I got help from four other computer geniouses, two of them only being teenagers. I'm going to bring them out now so that they can get the credibility they deserve. Please hold your applause until everyone has joined me on stage."

"First off, we have the Vice President of Japan Online Reika Ootori!"

"This next person is the youngest in the group. At 14 years old, Alice McCoy!"

"Out of all of us, I'm convinced that this man was the smartest. Ryu Shibumi!"

Wow, now that took Ruki by suprise. Sure, she had found out that morning that Shibumi had been working behind the scenes, but _he_ was the illustrious Ryu? It just didn't occur to her that Shibumi even _had_ a first name. She knew Felix was next and looked for him to give him a reassuring smile. It didn't take long to find him, he was sitting out of view, waiting to be called. But wait! Brown hair? He kind of resembled Aoshi, now that she thought about it. Except for those blue eyes... WAIT! She widened her eyes as realization hit her.

"And now I'd like to welcome back someone who had kind of out of the loop these last few years. Ladies and gentlemen, may I announce Ryo "Felix" Akiyama!"


	23. Chapter 23

Author's Note: Ok, now there was no way I was about to leave this story on a cliffhanger for months on end. This didn't exactly come out how I planned, but I think it's good enough. Oh, and for those who were confused, I explain Ryo's different aliases in this chapter. Well, happy reading and happy holidays!

Disclaimer – Um, talk to the hand because the hands are typing?

* * *

"Ok, ladies and gentlemen. The tournament starts in 10 minutes. Until then, do as you please." 

Yamaki sighed as he walked off the stage. Finally, it was done. Ryo was announced, and currently being on full blast from the press. The stadium was completed and ready, thank heaven. And he was finally in the clear, for the most part. He raised his eyebrow as his foot bumped into something as he tried to light a cigrette. Looking down he saw it was one of his security guards. But this poor man was sporting a huge black eye and appeared to be out cold. Alarmed, Yamaki looked around... then he saw Jenrya. Quickly, he sprinted to where the teen was.

"Ruki! Ruki wake up!" Yamaki arrived and his eyes widened

"Ok, what the hell happened?"

"Well, after Ryo was brought on stage Ruki kind of stumbled over here and I saw her fall over. I tried to get to her only to be met on by your security guard. You should probably get him a nurse or something."

Yamaki quickly checked Ruki's pulse. Luckilly enough, there was a perfectly normal beat. All of this had been to much and the girl had fainted. But hell, he couldn't blame her. She had snuck out of her house in the middle of the morning, fought the press head on, gave her speech perfectly, then had to deal with the shock of seeing Ryo. Thankfully, the public was too consumed with Ryo to even notice that their Queen had temporarily fallen.

"It was too much for her. She fainted." Yamaki said as he lit a cigarette

"Well, how the fuck do we wake her up!" Jenrya yelled

"GIVE. ME. THAT. CIGARETTE." Ruki demanded

"Well, I guess that solved that problem."

Ruki tried to keep her breathing even as she inhaled. So Ryo was Felix all along. Taking a look at him she figured that he was Aoshi as well. So Ryo was Aoshi as well. Great. Just fucking peachy. She took another drag. Remembering the past couple of days she realized that she had actually complained to Ryo about what had gone on between Felix and herself. Arg, confusing. Wait! She kissed Akiyama! She looked over at Yamaki, remembering...

_"Ruki, I'm not really sure whether or not I should be asking you this; but what would you do if Ryo ever came back?"_

_"I... I... well, I don't have an answer to that. Why ask something like that Yamaki?" he noticed her sudden mood change and switched tactics_

_"I don't know. I've always been curious; you two seemed to be very close. His leaving had to have affected you, so I wanted to know how you would feel if he ever came back."_

_His closing statement had Ruki thinking. She knew that there was more to Yamaki's "curiosity" then he let on. But she didn't feel like thinking about that at the moment. Ryo... returning. Well, of course his leaving affected her. But his return was something she never really anticipated. It seemed like a lost cause. Had it been a month ago she knew what her reaction would be. Anger. But lately her world had been thrown upside down. With Felix and everything. True, their would've-been courtship wasn't very long, but there was just something about him, something had been awakened in her. When she was with him she had felt whole, like the missing part of her, that left along with Ryo, had been returned. She now knew that she didn't need Ryo to feel that way. The memory of him had been reduced to shreds, truth be told. Now how to put that into words?_

_"You look like you could use a second." Yamaki broke the silence by offering her more cancer._

So Yamaki knew the entire fucking time. He knew Ryo was Felix and knew that it was being kept from her. He knew how she felt about Felix, and more to the point, Ryo. Yet he kept the secret. Trying to contain her fury, she fixed her ruthless gaze on Yamaki and demanded the answers she knew she deserved.

"How?"

"Well, when Ryo first came back he had long brown hair. For the first couple of days we just called him Ryu and let him stay as is. Eventually realizing that you would get involved we figured we had to change his look, seeing as how you would recognize him. So we dyed his hair black and gave him a pair of shades. Around this time Shibumi joined us so we realized that the name Ryu just wouldn't work; thus, Felix was born. Felix worked up until these last couple days. Ryo wanted to be more himself, so he removed the black dye and ditched the shades. Realizing that you would once again recognize him, as Felix this time, we changed him one last time. He cut his precious hair and put in some brown contacts, Aoshi."

Jenrya took this in with suprise. As if it wasn't enough of a shock to have Ryo in front of him, now he finds out that he had apparently been around for quite awhile. Oh yes, he had heard of Felix. And as much as he wanted to be mad at Ryo, he couldn't. There just had to be something he didn't understand. And until he had all the facts he didn't want to draw a conclusion.

"Who else knew?"

"Reika, Shibumi, Alice, and myself."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

Wrong answer. Yamaki and Jenrya watched as Ruki angrilly finished off the cigarette she was smoking. After catching her breath, she got up. They watched as she shoved past the media who were currently interviewing Ryo. As she grabbed a mic and prepared to give the Legendary Tamer a piece of her mind. The two guys looked at each other in silent understanding.

"He really does love her, you know."

"Yeah, and she loves him."

* * *

Ryo watched as Ruki pushed past his current interviewers and made her way to the stage. He sighed as he knew what was soon to come. Looking around him he noticed Jenrya and Yamaki gesturing that he was a dead man. Gulping, he looked at Ruki as she grabbed a microphone and took a deep breath. It was time to face the music. 

"Why, hello there Ryo."

"Hi Ruki."

"Where have you been the past few years?"

"Home."

"And where is that?"

"Somewhere I wouldn't be found."

"You never thought to give your friends a proper goodbye?"

"Ruki... don't, please."

"Don't what? Tell you how much we've hurt! Fine, I won't! I'm sure even you are smart enough to figure that out."

"Ruki, I'm sorry."

"Man, fuck you Ryo. I don't want your sorries anymore, I'm over you. IT! I'm over it."

With that she threw down the mic and walked off stage. Ryo watched her descend from the stage with defeated eyes. But, as if she heard his silent pleas, Ruki looked over her shoulder at him one last time. It was all the incentive he needed.

"Ok, interview's over. Try me later." He ran off after her

Once Ryo caught up to Ruki they looked at each other for a good minute or two. Then reality suddenly caught up to them and they quickly realized that their little stare would probably end up on the cover of a teeny bopper magazine. Ryo grabbed Ruki's hand and started running.

"What do you think you're doing!"

"Finding us somewhere private to talk. Trust me."

"Trust you? Now why would I do that?"

"Because I helped build this arena, remember?"

It was a point Ruki couldn't argue with. So she just trusted Ryo as they entered Yamaki Stadium and quickly ended up in an abandoned room. From what she saw she couldn't argue with the fact that the stadium had indeed been the spawn of nothing less than geniuses.

"Well, now that we're alone and all I ask you again. What the fuck do you think you're doing Ryo?"

"Ruki, just hear me out. Please. The past 4½ years I went back to my home. You weren't able to find me because I'm not from here. I'm from another dimension. Like the digiworld, only different. It's a world you can get to only if you know how. The only reason I didn't tell you I was Felix was because I'm not staying. In about 2 weeks I'm leaving again. I just didn't want to hurt you. Please, just believe me. You have no idea how much you mean to me and how hard it was to have you know me as a different person. To have you care for me and genuinely like me, but call me by a name that isn't my own. I'm so sorry, all I want is your forgiveness. Nothing more, I promise."

Ruki took this all in. It didn't change the fact that she wanted to deck him right then and there, but she took it in. She knew that the decision was her own, but it was something that she planned to put off.

"What do you mean by you have no idea how much you mean to me?"

"Ruki... oh c'mon..." he stuttered as he realized what he had said

"Ryo, answer me dammit!"

"Fine! I love you Ruki! Is that what you wanted to hear? La dee da! I fucking love you!"

In that one moment things changed. Ryo, in disbelief of what he had just done, crumpled against the wall and fell until he was sitting on the ground, knees covering up his face. Ruki just stood in a stunned silence. Having no idea what to do she went with instinct. She offered him a hand to get up. He accepted.

"That was for Aoshi. This is for Felix."

Ryo didn't even get enough time to figure out what had just happened as Ruki yanked on his shirt to press his lips to her own. He tried pushing her off, but to no avail. So he just went with it and drew her closer to himself, his tongue asking for entrance. She granted it to him and he sighed in happiness. Then all went white. Pain engulfed him and as he fell to his knees Ryo realized that Ruki had just kneed him in the groin.

"And that was to Ryo Akiyama. The guy that just can't seem to figure out what he wants. Have a nice day."


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer - Not mine, duh.

Author's Note: I can't believe I'm really writing this. And all because I had a bad case of insomnia the other night, which led to me reading VOM from the beginning and FINALLY feeling the spark I've needed to continue it.

But it's really insane, you know. I started writing Voyage when I was 13 years old. This story has always been my baby and always will be, but I couldn't help but cringe at the level my writing was at in the earlier chapters...Now 7 years later I think I'm finally ready to come back to where I started. In the last 7 years I've changed who I am as a person and it'll probably reflect, but I absolutely promise to do all I can to keep with the flow I had set back then!!!

Now, after 5 years I am proud to be able to welcome you to the new chapter!

* * *

.

Jenrya knew that entering the competition was a bad idea. Shoot, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind until Ruki demanded he enter for the sake of a "mystery prize" that she couldn't even bother to tell him about! But, like a proper best friend he bypassed his own beliefs and entered anyways. And where did that leave him now? Worried sick, that's where.

He knew Ruki well enough to know that she was smart enough to not assume she seriously had the time to have an epic heart to heart--there was still a tournament due to start here pretty soon! So it was probably going to be a short and sweet, potentially violent, conversation at most. Being a pacifist, Jenrya knew there was some things he just shouldn't vocalize; but within the realms of his mind he sincerely hoped that Ruki at least gave Ryo a merciless knee to the groin.

He had no problems with Ryo personally, but anyone who makes Ruki cry is a scum-sucking bastard...and that's just fact.

With the main celebrities currently missing in action, the crowd had already started entering the stadium and taking seats. And suddenly, like Moses spreading the Red, Jenrya saw Ruki. People were trying to talk to her and get her attention but it was obvious her head was elsewhere. She had a vacant look in her eyes and seemed to be moving on autopilot. He waited patiently for her to find him and it was obvious when she did: emotion returned to her eyes long enough for Jenrya to recognize the confusion and, more prominently, the unhidden pain. He briefly turned to Yamaki, asking him to stall as long as he could before running to Ruki and pulling her somewhere more private.

For a minute no one spoke. It wasn't in Jenrya's nature to be pushy and even if he was it wouldn't be any use with someone like Ruki anyways. So he stood silently, fixing Ruki with a look and waiting for her to speak.

"...He said he loves me."

It was a barely audible whisper, but Jenrya heard it nonetheless. So, he finally confessed.

"And how did you respond?" He asked.

"I kneed him...hard."

"That's my girl."

Without hesitation he pulled Ruki into his arms and engulfed her into his strong grip. Which was actually quite a feat in itself if one took the flaming cigarette into account. If it were anyone else they'd probably be dead, Jenya knew, but he also knew that him and Ruki had a bond that was special. He was the first person she opened up to, and probably the only one who she could fully let her guard down around. He only hoped that the strength he was mentally trying to push into her psyche would reach his target in time. His grip tightened when he noticed the wetness on his shirt and, while he would have held her for forever if it helped in the least he respected her wishes when he felt her start to push away.

"What do I do now Jen?" He thought hard before answering.

"You continue living, of course. Just because Ryo decides to come back doesn't mean that it should bring you to your knees."

"But I can't just ignore him! He infiltrated my life! Lied to me and led me to believe he was someone I could trust, fuck even like, and KNEW that this would happen. I don't really give a shit that Yamaki told him to keep his presence a secret; he could've told me. Should've told me. Then there's the whole matter of me still caring! Look at me, I'm a wreck for pete's sake. Only someone who really matters could reduce me to this and you know it's the truth!" Ruki countered.

"And?" Jenrya smiled.

"And?!?! God, are you high or something Jen? I can't just forget everything!" If possible the infuriating smile grew bigger.

"I'm not telling you to. What I am saying is that you have a tournament to win and that your game will suffer if you're too busy thinking about Ryo. Just imagine, the great Digimon Queen losing her title because of silly boy problems! I'm saying that Ryo will still be here after everything is over. Worry about dealing with him when you have the time to do so and can see it through."

It didn't matter that they had been friends for years. It didn't matter that Jenrya knew that Ruki would rather submit herself to a modeling contract than intentionally hurt him. When she drew her fist back he cringed. Huh, he thought to himself, some blackbelt I am. Ruki's punch connected with his shoulder--nothing too hard--and she sighed. He simply smiled and she begrudgingly gave him a hug. He heard/felt her mutter some kind of complaint about him always having to be right before pulling out of his grasp, mask back in place. Now there was the Ruki he knew. She smirked and nodded at him, and together they ran to the arena as fast as they could...

All the while wondering how Yamaki managed to stall as long as he had...

* * *

.

Regardless of the obvious stresses the people around him had at the moment--lover coming back from the dead stresses, lover being mad about him coming back from the dead stresses, tournament stresses, etc.--he was calm as a cucumber. The stadium was done. The prize was cleared and ready. Ryo's comeback had the exact public reaction he had expected. Yeah, he had done his part.

Then again, it could just be the cigarette lodged between his fingers.

But he didn't have the time to plan out an elaborate opening ceremony. It was something he figured he wouldn't need anyways. The reason being that he held a huge press conference and magically produced Ryo Akiyama from the dead, was there anything that could top that really? Unfortunately he was in a position now that demanded something of him. He stood in the center of the arena, the seats were full and the competitors were all staring at him for answers. As far as stalling went he had done what he could. With everyone's attention solely on him he knew it was time to get the tournament underway. But with Ruki not back yet he knew that he would never forgive himself if he dared begin it now. All he could do now was drag out the explanations. Luckily for him, the stadium did have functions that needed explaining. But that could only go on so long...another speech, perhaps? Yeah, he'd try that one.

"Well, for the final time I'd like to formally welcome all of you to the Digimon Card Championships of 2003 (2010!). As has been mentioned before the blood, sweat, and tears that not only myself and my crew have submitted, but also those of our competitors, who have come from all around the world and fought hard to deserve their place here...it is something that should not be dismissed. It sounds cliche, but truly you are all winners. The 256 people who have made past the preliminaries, those that stand here before me and their peers, represent the best the world has to offer."

Yamaki started to sweat as he ran out of things to say. Still no sign of Ruki. He only had one more card left under his sleeve.

"If you'd all focus your attention there."

He pointed to a floating platform that was circling the stadium. On it was the tournament board Ryo had worked on yesterday, as well as Shibumi who waved to the crowd.

"That is the tournament's master board. It will be updated as the tournament progresses and, if you happen to miss a particularly interesting battle I ask that you refer to it for the results you desire. Now I ask everyone to please reach under their seats."

Yamaki waited as everyone reached under their seats in unison, reemerging in confusion at the devices held in their hands. Yamaki opened his mouth to speak but abruptly shut it and mentally fell over in ecstasy at seeing Ruki and Jenrya enter the stadium. Quickly looking over at Reika and nodding he watched as she herded the competitors out of the main stadium. He sent another look up at Shibumi and turned back to his microphone. The crowd anxiously waited for him to continue, even more confused now that the competitors had been taken away. Yamaki grinned, now that everyone was here and accounted for he could finally get the show underway. And it was about damn time as far as he was concerned. The tournament was a welcome challenge from boring JOL stuff, but the stress was a bitch. Damn, it was just the cigarette after all.

"Those devices will allow you to focus in on any battle you choose. If you redirect your attention to the tournament board you will see that every battle has its own assigned number. All you have to do is enter that and it will give you the effect of being next to your favorite battler. You can also search for a particular battle by the name of the competitor. Instead of holding one battle at a time we will be trying something...different this year. So please bear with the changes, enjoy what Yamaki Stadium has to offer, and prepare to be awed and amazed by the things that will happen before your very eyes today."

Shibumi's platform landed on the ground and Yamaki grinned at the man, who was holding a vibrating pager that was linked to the one vibrating in his own pocket. He climbed onto the platform and smiled as Reika came running back into the arena, completely out of breath, and joined them. The platform then went back into the sky and started recircling the stadium. This was it, Yamaki knew, the moment they had all been waiting for from the moment the crew decided to make Yamaki Stadium a reality. He looked at Shibumi and the man nodded. It was time. He grabbed Reika's hand and squeezed hard, when it came down to it he was just as excited as the rest of them.

"Let the tournament begin!"

With his words the arena's floor split and open; and, before anyone could comprehend what was going on out flew 256 mini-platforms, a competitor stationed on top of each one.

* * *

.

Ruki kept her face stony as she soared into the sky. Truth be told, she wanted to scream just as much as everyone else but knew she had to hold it in, she did have a reputation to uphold after all. She had been able to hear Yamaki's speech through the floor and Reika had whispered a warning to her before running off to catch her ride, but who could stay calm when they were being shot 20 feet (about 6 meters) into the air! Ryo apparently. She snuck a look at the Legendary Tamer. Although he was stationed at the complete other side of the stadium there was no disguising the look of pure excitement and adrenalin on his face. Bastard, of course he was pumped: he helped design the thing and knew exactly what to expect!

Unlike Shibumi's platform, the competitor platforms didn't float on their own. They were each supported by long, transparent tubes that not only supported the platforms but also raised them above ground level. They looked to be hollow, but still had the power to hold up the platforms. She did have to give it up to Yamaki and his team, they created something normal man wouldn't even be able to conceive let alone build from scratch. She tried looking for her friends but quickly gave up the pursuit as a table materialized and she finally took notice of the person stationed directly in front of her. He was about as old as she was, and she knew subconsciously that they'd fought before...but certainly not anyone to worry about. He was good, for sure.

She just happened to be better.

Being at the actual tournament itself and not just the preliminaries meant that the opponents weren't complete and total fuckwits. Ruki, being the defending champion for the last few years was more than well prepared for that truth and didn't bother holding back or making presumptions about his ability. As the opening moves were played Ruki grinned to herself. Of course she'd get stuck with a defensive player for the first round. But, she pressed her attack to the point where she didn't think twice at moving and made moves that were bold enough to have her opponent doubt themselves and their own strategy. It was one of the biggest differences in her fake and real battling styles. Also a good indicator as to why she's reigned as long as she has; like many things in life, one of the traits needed to be a good card player is confidence in one's ability. Ruki Makino possessed this in spades.

When fighting in the prelims, she makes it her goal to just get out of there as soon as possible. Most of the people suck at the game and try their luck because they think it's cool and has the potential to gain them fame and fortune. Stupid noobs. It doesn't take skill to beat those types. They haven't studied the game and, if they do, it's straight out of a book where they teach you the basic-est of the basic as far as strategy went. It becomes the responsibility of each individual person to take it further from there, to evolve the basic into one's own personalized, customized style. At her core, Ruki was an "attack-type" player. And, at somewhere like the prelims, it was all she needed to utilize. Basic attack strategy made quick and easy work of the inexperienced, no two ways about that.

But here at the real deal it was a whole other story. If she tried something as insulting as using basic strategies now she'd be annihilated in no time flat. It was at the tournament itself where her real strategy came out. Not to brag, but Ruki knew that she knew her deck better than most people knew their own and because of that she didn't have to hesitate in her moves. When she attacked she struck fast, hard, and ruthlessly. And, because of this people started to panic, and when people panicked they made mistakes. Her current opponent was no different and within minutes he had blundered and Ruki didn't hesitate to expose it and use it to beat him in a prompt manner. Her defeated opponent sighed, holding out his hand with a sheepish smile.

"Well, thanks for the match. I'll just have to try harder next year, huh?" Ruki smiled at his good attitude.

She was raising her own hand to meet his when something unexpected happened. Her opponent...disappeared!

"What the fuck?!!?"

Before she had time to think she felt her platform raise again. Truth be told she had no idea how far up she was raised this time. It was high enough to where she was well above the rest of the competitors--who were still engaged in their own battles--but not completely sky high. She peeked a look over to her former opponent's platform and gasped as she saw that the platform itself was descending back into the ground...and the ground on it was nonexistent. It was just like the arena's floor! Does that mean that the losers of the matches have to fall those 20 feet? And, considering that she just won her match and ascended X more feet that would mean that the fall would be worse the further into the competition you get?! She smacked her hand to her forehead and muttered quietly to herself. This had Alice's name written all over it. She looked up to the floating tournament board platform. Alice apparently joined the rest of Team Yamaki up there and...were they avoiding her eyes!?!

"Hey assholes, trying to kill us?!" She yelled up to them.

"The tubes decelerate the fall and the landing is plenty safe, don't worry." She heard a voice.

Sure enough, raising on his own platform was Ryo Akiyama. Of course the stupid punk would still be that good.

"Still not talking to you Akiyama!"

* * *

.

From the floating platform Alice smiled as she watched the current scene unfolding before her eyes. First off she got to see her own piece of technology at work. When the crew had first decided on raising platforms she had suggested the idea of having something happen to the losers as well. Luckily for her, Yamaki was enough of a sadist to not only hear her out but green light the idea of having the losers literally drop out of sight. It was a matter of pride for her. Shit, it was hard managing to pull it off while still making sure that the competitors were 100 percent safe! Anyways, the pain in the ass headaches were so worth it for the look on that first guy's face when he fell. He had no idea what hit him!

Then of course there was the lovers spat that had been going on in front of her for the last hour or so.

It was painstakingly obvious that they were the favorites to win. Even now, people were starting to win their own matches and have their platforms raise but it seemed like the Digimon King and Queen were in a league of their own. The platforms weren't programmed to start the battles on a round by round system. Meaning that the second round matches wouldn't begin when all of the first round matches completed. Instead, the platforms were programmed to the people themselves--as soon as two parties who were assigned to fight in the second round were finished with their first round matches then they could immediately start their own personal round two, three, and so on; it was all dependent on the skill of the battler. That being said, Alice turned her attention back to the "main event." Both Yamaki and herself managed to sneak a pair of the battle viewers onto their platform and currently had them set up to Ruki and Ryo's battles, respectively. Considering that neither of them really cared about the card game itself, obviously there was an ulterior motive afoot.

"Heya Pumpkin! Looks like I've beat you to this level, but I'm pleased you could join me!" Ryo's voice spoke through one of the viewers.

"Dammit Ryo don't you ever shut up? What part of I don't forgive you don't you understand!?!" Ruki's reply came through the other viewer.

"Oh I understand it fine, I'm just not willing to accept it. Would you like me to start apologizing again? Because please believe me when I say that I'm just as persistent as you are stubborn!"

Alice laughed out loud as Ruki muttered out some choice words to herself. The two had been going on like this since Ryo first initiated conversation with Ruki right after their first matches. In a way it really couldn't be avoided, really. As it stood at the moment, most of the competitors were still on their second battles. True, the second round battles were starting to come to a close and people were starting to rise to the third round but at the moment the amount of people that had reached that particular point were very few indeed. Yet, both Ruki and Ryo were already at the FOURTH level awaiting their competitors; and, at the rate the matches were going, they would be waiting up there alone together for a while. With the good 10-20 feet that separated each level of combat in place, it practically put the Digimon royalty on their own level altogether. What else could they do but talk to each other?

On the other end of the spectrum was poor goggleheaded Takato. While she didn't care too much about the tournament itself, Alice did make a point of at least checking in on the progress of the other tamers. Kazu appeared to be winning his second round match; she gave it another ten minutes tops. Kenta and his partner were caught in a stalemate but she had no doubts that he would eventually pull through in the end. Way she figured, someone who managed to snag third last year had to have more skill than to be beat in the early matches. Jenrya was one of the few on the third level, patiently waiting for his partner. But the leader of the group? Poor Takato was still sitting on second level waiting for his opponent to rise! There really weren't that many first round battles still being fought--probably about as many as were people waiting on the third level--but it seemed, unfortunately, that Takato's second round opponent was one of the unlucky/unskilled few still caught on the first match. On the plus side, it would probably be an easy battle for the gogglehead once his opponent finally showed.

"Will you ever tell me the full truth about why you left and where you've been?" Ruki's voice spoke up again.

"Ruki, if that's what it takes to earn your forgiveness I'd tell anything and everything about me you could ever possibly want to know."

Alice looked up at Yamaki for a moment. Although he tried, and usually succeeded, and feigning disinterest she knew that he was paying just as much attention to the conversation as she was. It always seemed that Ruki felt the same affection for Ryo that he did her, but she never had officially confirmed it. And with his sudden reappearance naturally everyone will be worried about Ruki and how she's taking it. But what about Ryo? Outside of herself and Yamaki, Ryo didn't really have anyone in his corner. And she really did have to hand it to the guy, he was fighting hard to get on Ruki's good side. Alice's only concern being that Ryo could potentially end up being the one really hurt because of this ordeal; and she knew that it was the same concern that had Yamaki hanging on their every word as well. But who needed to think about things like that now? The tournament was going strong and looked like it would promise one hell of a finale.

She just wondered what would happen when the two did finally duke it out.


	25. NOTE FROM THE AUTHORESS

**CALLING ALL READERS!!**

**So I haven't written in a while and TOTALLY feel like getting some work done…but I'm way too indecisive for my own good. I have a bunch of ideas for all of my stories and want to know where to start. If you have a certain story you'd like me to update than I ask that you please go to my page and participate in my poll. Cast your vote for which story I should get to work on!**

**The poll will close on Valentines Day.**

**THANK YOU ALL FOR READING MY FICS!**

**~A Nobody**


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